


Just your average High School life, right?

by semnextdoor



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Fluff, I'm Bad At Tagging, Lots of Angst, M/M, janus is trans, lots of fluff, lots of gay, read chapter 1 for trigger warnings, so is Remy, so is his mom, this' a loooong boi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:28:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 122,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29136318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/semnextdoor/pseuds/semnextdoor
Summary: No. Not really.Follow a group of friends trying to make it through Junior year of High School....I know, it's not the most informative summary, but who said I was good at summarizing my own dang stories?READ CHAPTER 1 FOR TRIGGER WARNINGS!!
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	1. Chapter 1

Whaddup, I'm Sem and I go by he/them.

I know, I've been gone from this website for a loooong while.  
You also probably didn't expect me to come out with a Sanders Sides fanfic.  
Originally, I didn't want to publish it, but then I managed to write over 200 pages (and counting) so, here we are.

TRIGGER WARNINGS, PLEASE READ (If I missed something, please let me know!):  
Mentions of: non-con, self harm, drug use, suicide attempt, abuse, death, trauma, unhealthy eating habits  
Depictions of: bullying, homophobia, transphobia, use of slurs (t-slur and f-slur), deadnaming (both in flashbacks and present time), talk about dysphoria

I am adding trigger warnings to each chapter as well, clarifying which triggers apply in which chapter. They're non-explicit for the most part.

Alrighty, moving onto the characters themselves.  
Since this is a human/High School AU, here are the different families:

Logan Croft  
Parents: Susan & Austin  
Pets: None  
Birthday: October 19th  
School Clubs: General Science Club & Astrology/Astronomy Club  


Patton Hart  
Parents: Catherine & Mathew  
Pets: Fluffball (dog)  
Birthday: October 19th  
School Clubs: Baking/Cooking Club & Book Club

Janus Damien Storm & Virgil Storm  
Parents: adoptive: Casper & Erika; Janus: Elisa & Connor; Virgil: unknown, both deceased  
Pets: Medusa (Janus's python); Sir Spiderton (Virgil's bird spider)  
Birthday: Janus: February 3rd; Virgil: July 15th  
School Clubs: Theater Club & Debate Club

Roman Prince Kingsley & Remus Duke Kingsley (former Rodriguez-Kingsley)  
Parents: Romulus (deceased), Anne & Maria (step-mother)  
Pets: Octo (full name: Count Octokar Chuthulu the Brave) (Remus's octopus)  
Birthday: August 22nd  
School Clubs: Roman: Theater Club & Baseball Club; Remus: Theater Club & General Science Club

Thomas and his friends have different cameos in this too.  
Emile and Remy are married, Remy is Roman’s and Remus’s paternal cousin. There's also a bunch of OC's I guess?  
The Dragon Witch got her own character too. Her name is Diane Wataru, she's a Senior student and part of the band club. Characters won't be 100% canon cuz they're their own beings instead of a part of Thomas. 

That's all, 'k, see ya!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's meet the first two main characters of this story.
> 
> The following trigger warnings apply to this chapter: homophobia, abuse, self harm, unhealthy eating habits, f-slur

Distance.  
That’s all he felt from his parents.  
They only seemed to have been proud, if their son had done something extra spectacular in the scholar department. Straight A’s, extra points, the teachers praise. Those were the only things that seemed to make his parents happy.  
He doesn’t even call them mother or father.  
He had been on a first name basis with them ever since he was 7.  
Luckily, his parents did the logical things of providing the necessary things for their son to stay alive, albeit it being the minimum.  
A small room filled with a single sized bed, a desk, and one drawer, which his clothes and his books had to share. The food he ate had to be bought from his own allowance and cooked by himself. But it worked for Logan. Sort of. At least he got allowance.  
Logan Croft was known for being the smartest student, a nerd, stoic, alone.  
Almost.  
Ever since kindergarten, he had one and the same friend. Patton Hart.  
Patton was a chubby kid. Freckles decorating his entire face, his dirty blond locks covering a good portion of his eyes. With a big smile; a tooth had been missing, the front left one to be precise; and a round soft frog plush in his hand, he introduced himself to Logan.  
Logan remembered their first meeting vividly.  
He didn’t quite understand how he had been able to maintain any sort of relationship with Patton all the way up until high school. They were exact opposites.  
Logan was rather tall, close to two meters. His dark raven hair slicked back at all times, his statue rather skinny. His dark blue eyes were hidden behind a pair of square framed glasses. He usually wore button ups accompanied by a pair of jeans and a blue striped tie. He used to wear short sleeved shirts up until his 14th birthday. Ever since then, he switched to long sleeves.  
Patton on the other hand was of tiny statue, around 1,60m. Still on the chubbier side, still usually running around with a wide grin on his face. However, the gap in his teeth had closed by now. His hair also didn’t cover half his face anymore, however, sometime in middle school he had been prescribed glasses as well. They hid his light blue eyes. Although he chose a round frame. His freckles still graced his face, even grew past his neck and down his arms. He wore a lot of animal themed, oversized, cozy hoodies. Mostly cats, sometimes dogs and frogs.  
If it weren’t the looks that set them apart, it was their character.  
Logan, as mentioned, had been stoic. No emotions. At least not on the outside. He didn’t know how to show emotions. He didn’t fully understand emotions. Even with a friend like Patton, emotions were a strange construct to the logical teen. He knew by observing what emotion was suitable for the situation. It’s not like Logan didn’t feel. He did, but for the most part, it was a hard task to figure out what he was feeling.  
On the other hand, Patton seemed to have more than enough emotions to share. The times he had been unreasonably happy were countless. He easily cried, especially when any kind of animal died in a movie. There were also a few days were Patton seemed off. However, Logan had dismissed those as normal lows. Usually, Patton was back to his “happy pappy“ self; as he called it; the next day.  
“Can you believe it?!”, Patton exclaimed happily, “We’re gonna be Juniors next year!”  
“Of course I can.”, Logan raised an eyebrow, “We passed the necessary tests for that after all.”  
The two childhood friends just left the school building. It was their last day of that year, summer vacation had finally arrived.  
“Oh, you know what I mean!”, Patton hopped excitedly, “We’re halfway done with Highschool!”  
“Indeed.”, the tall boy nodded, “However, you do have to put much more effort into your studies from now on. You barely made it.”  
“I know, I know.”, Patton waved it off, “But I know I can always count on you as my private teacher at home. Speaking of!”, the cheery teen jumped in front of Logan, stopping him in his tracks, “You wanna spend the weekend at my place again? My dad doesn’t have to work, we’re having a barbecue!”  
Logan suppressed a smile. He didn’t like to smile. However, Patton, intentionally or not, always knew how to trigger the muscles in Logan’s face.  
“It would be my pleasure.”

_No need to ask for permission._  
_They don’t notice my absence._  
_They never do._  
_They only notice my mistakes._

The next day rolled around. Saturday.  
Logan fixed the buttons on his sleeves, making sure they fit rather snug around his wrists, before ringing the doorbell. He adjusted the strap of his sports bag on his shoulder while waiting. He didn’t even do sports. The only reason he had that bag was for it’s space. It held a lot of things.  
“Finally!”, a woman swung the door open, “You’re here!”  
“Good afternoon, Catherine.”, Logan greeted the woman, Patton’s mother. Her son clearly came after her in terms of looks.  
“Come in, come in!”, she cheered, stepping aside to let the teen in. He started taking his shoes off when Catherine stopped him.  
“You can head to the garden right away, we’re about to start grilling the meat!”, she explained excitedly.  
“Thank you.”, Logan nodded.  
“Leave your bag on the stairs for now, I’ll bring it up for you later.”, the mother grabbed the bags strap from Logan’s shoulder. She yelped at the weight of it as it dragged her down a bit. She didn’t expect it to be so heavy.  
“My, did you pack your whole house for just the weekend?”, she asked out of curiosity. Logan decided to stay quiet.  
“I’m just kidding, you know that.”, Catherine smiled lightly, “Go on, I’ll be outside in just a bit.”  
Logan made his way past the kitchen, through the living room and towards the glass door, that separated him from the backyard. He carefully slid the door open, took one step outside, and closed the door behind him. The top student didn’t get far, as he was playfully attacked by a small dog, barking high pitched barks at him, wagging its tail happily.  
“Hello there, Fluffball.”, Logan greeted the small canine with a clenched jaw. He wasn’t too fond of animals, especially the ones that barked loudly at him, even if it was excitement.  
“Fluffball, get over here, you silly furbaby!”, a voice on the other side of the garden sung. Fluffball instantly listened and waggled towards the source of the voice.  
Logan let out a sigh of relief and followed the dog. However, he took his time, unlike the family pet.  
“Hey Logan!”, Patton, who stood next to a grown man preparing the grill, waved, smile was wide as ever.  
One day, Logan might actually smile back.  
“Good evening Patton.”, Logan gave a small wave.  
“I’m glad you’re finally here!”, the smaller teen cheered with an up-beat tune.  
“Why hello there, Logan!”, the adult sung just as happy as Patton.  
“Good evening to you too, Mathew.”, Logan nodded, “Thank you for letting me partake in this small event.”  
“Of course!”, Mathew gave Logan a strong pat on the shoulder, “You know we enjoy your company! You’re always welcome in our home.”

_At least one home accepts me._

“Here I come!”, Catherine finally joined the group of males. She had a plate covered in aluminum foil with her.  
“PatPat, sweetie, would you be so kind and help me with the remaining plates?”, she asked her son sweetly.  
“Of course!”, Patton, who was quickly followed by Fluffball, went back inside with his mother.  
“I hope you brought a big appetite with you.”, the father of one started pouring coals in the grill.

_I didn’t._

“Ah, well, I’m fine with just one steak perhaps.”, Logan said, adjusting his glasses.  
“Then you shall get the biggest one we have!”, Mathew countered.

_Please don’t._

“Is fine, really.”, the black haired boy held his hands up in defense, “You don’t have to do that.”  
“You’re our guest!”, Mathew gave another strong pat on Logan’s shoulder, “You should know by now how we treat our guests, especially if it’s our sons best friend!”  
Instead of arguing, Logan sighed in thought and gave in.  
“Thank you.”, he muttered firmly.  
Maybe a nice, well made steak was something Logan needed.  
Not physically, he wasn’t all too hungry. His hunger was generally pretty small, at least, that’s what Logan usually told himself.  
But maybe the feeling of a warm meal made by someone who knew how to cook; Mathews cooking was one of the best once’s Logan had ever tasted; was just the right thing to get the spirits lifted.  
It usually worked.  
“So, how’s your family doing?”, Mathew wondered while trying to light the coals on fire.

_Oh, no, please don’t-_

“Fine.”, he said, stoic, “Very busy.”  
He felt an itch in his lower right arm, but tried his best to ignore it. Scratching it now would have made things worse.  
“As always, huh?”, Mathew gave a look of pity, “They don’t really seem to have much time for you.”  
The itch got stronger.  
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”, the father tried waving it off, “I’m sure they’re working hard to give you every opportunity out there.”  
Logan remained silent. He tried his hardest to ignore the itch.  
“You’re pretty smart, I’m sure they’ll send you to college, right?”, Mathew smiled.  
“I’m working hard to get a scholarship.”, the teen admitted, “I rather let my intelligence speak instead of my money.”

_Money I don’t have._

“Ah, I see.”, the adult poked the coal with a metal skewer, “I’m sure you’ll get that with ease. You tutored Patton so well, and with your straight A’s, any college would want you.”  
Logan wasn’t able to ignore the itch any longer.  
“Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom.”  
“Don’t get lost on your way.”, Mathew joked.  
“I... won’t.”, jokes weren’t Logan’s strong suit.  
As he entered the living room through the glass door again, he noticed Patton and his mother, about to leave the house to bring the plates, some sauces and side dishes outside. Logan swung the door open and held it for the mother-son-duo. They nodded thankfully and started setting the garden table, that was located on the wooden porch.  
Logan decided to leave the door open for now, as he was going to leave it after his trip to the bathroom anyways. His short trip led upstairs, so he went there and noticed his bag was gone. Someone must have brought it up to Patton’s room.  
Each step he took up felt heavy. He tried his best not to show that with his posture, even though no one had been watching him.  
After he made it to the first floor, he went right, and entered through the first door he encountered. Even though he knew no one would barge in without reason, he still locked the door behind him, just to be safe. No one needed to see this.  
He opened the button on his right sleeve and pulled it up, revealing a fully bandaged arm.

_I shouldn’t do that._  
_Not here at least._  
_It would be a hassle to clean._  
_Inconvenient._  
_I don’t even have the tools nor any fresh bandages. They’re all in my bag._

But he needed to do something about the itch.  
Maybe something small may suffice. Something he could easily hide with a band aid.  
He tried looking for one.  
The cupboard behind the mirror- no band aids.  
The small storage place under the sink - no band aids.

_I guess I have to sit this one out._

Logan sighed. He fixed his sleeve, making sure it sits firmly around his wrist. He unlocked the bathroom door and made his way back to the Hart family.  
“Hey, Logan, you want to drink something?”, Patton immediately asked the second Logan had made his return. It caught the nerd off guard a bit.  
“Ah, a water would be just fine.”, he tried to squeeze out without sounding too suspiciously emotional.  
“Okie dokie!”, Patton saluted, “We even got sparkling water for you!”  
“I would love to have some, thank you.”  
With that, Patton jumped back inside towards the kitchen.  
“Tell me, Logan.”, Catherine quickly replaced Patton’s position in the conversation; she just put down a bowl of potato salad, “Isn’t that shirt a tad too hot for this weather?”  
“Uhm-“, Logan cleared his throat to overplay the slip up, “No, I’m perfectly fine. I don’t get hot that easily.”  
“If that’s the case then...”, Catherine started to hum a little tune while making her way to her husband, who finally had thrown the first piece of meat on the grill.  
Fluffball found a nice spot in the sun to relax and get some vitamin D.  
“Ta-daaa!”, Patton, who had returned from his mission to get a beverage for his childhood friend, presented a small glass bottle of sparkling mineral water.  
“Here you go!”, he handed it over to Logan.  
“Thank you.”, the taller boy accepted the bottle and placed it on the table.  
“No problemo!”, Patton once again smiled. He then took a seat at the table, hitting the edge with his fingers like a drum set. Logan followed and took a seat next to him.  
“I took the freedom and brought your bag to my room by the way.”, Patton informed the other.  
“I took notice of that.”, Logan confirmed, “Thank you.”  
“Is... everything okay?”, the smaller teen wondered, “Your bag was so heavy, it felt like you brought more than necessary for two days.”  
Logan’s gaze wandered towards his bottle of water. More precisely, the little droplets that had formed due to condensation. They slowly got heavier and heavier, until they rolled down the glass, causing a stain on the plastic table.  
He had to tell Patton.  
“I was kicked out.”, Logan admitted.  
“What...?”, Patton whispered in disbelief, “But- What happened?”

_“Logan, would you mind coming to the dinner table?”_  
_Odd. Susan never called him to the dinner table._  
_Logan clicked his pen and put it aside before leaving my room to head to the dinner table in the living room._  
_When he walked towards the table he noticed that Austin had been present as well._  
_“What’s the matter?”, the teen asked carefully._  
_“My boss invited us to dinner tonight.”, Austin started explaining, “This is about a possible promotion, and I want you to come along with us.”_  
_Strange. They never wanted him around._  
_“May I ask for why that is?”, Logan wondered._  
_“He has a daughter around your age.”, Austin said._  
_That sentence immediately gave the black haired boy a bad gut feeling._  
_“It would make a good impression if you got along with her. Maybe even more.”_  
_“...”, Logan scratched his arm._  
_“You will accompany us to the dinner and be nice to my bosses daughter. Understood?”, the negligent parents glared at the teen._  
_“I don’t-“_  
_“No.”, the mother interrupted her child, “You will join this dinner. It’s very important for your father to get that promotion.”_  
_“I’m... already preoccupied with a different engagement.”, Logan said._  
_“You aren’t.”, Susan scoffed, “You don’t have to tutor that Hart boy anymore, and other than that, you barely leave this house anyway.”_  
_Something was bubbling up in Logans stomach. Was that the feeling of anger?_  
_It sure was._  
_“How would you know?”, he asked, a little too aggressively, “You do the bare minimum to keep me alive as is. And now you want to use me for a picture perfect family image?”_  
_“This is not how you talk to your parents, youn-“_  
_“I can think of a million different things I’d rather do, than pretend like you care about me in front of a couple of strangers while trying to be romantically inclined with a girl I won’t be able to love. Ever.”_  
_Only after he said last word, he realized what he did._  
_“Are you trying to tell us, that we raised a little faggot?”, Susan instantly caught on. And, of course, she had to throw slurs at Logan. He was disappointed, but not surprised._  
_“Quite frankly, you didn’t raise me at all.”, he debunked her claim, “You merely allowed me to exist.”_  
_“...”_  
_Silence._  
_Logan figured that that was his cue to leave. He nodded and turned on one heel, ready to head back to my room._  
_“I want you to be gone by 12 PM.”, Austin then demanded, “And don’t you dare show your face in this house again.”_  
_“Very well.”, Logan agreed._

“They really threw you out?!”, Patton exclaimed in shock, “For being gay?!”  
“Yes.”, Logan confirmed, “Even though I never straight up stated that, they got the implication. I managed to cram my clothes and some essentials in my bag. You don’t have to worry though, after this weekend, I will find a different place to sta-“  
“What are you saying?!”, the blond boy interrupted, “Of course you’re gonna stay with us! You know how much we love you!”  
“But I don’t want to be a bother.”, Logan couldn’t possibly accept Patton’s offer, “My parents won’t likely spend another dime on me, so financial support is out of the question.”  
“You’re not a bother, trust me.”, Patton grabbed one of Logan’s hands, which had been resting on the nerds legs, “And don’t worry about the money. We can manage, I’m sure of it. Plus, you can always do some side work, like babysitting or dog walking if you really need the money.”  
“But... those are things you do.”, the black haired teen pointed out.  
“Exactly!”, Patton jumped in his seat, “That’s why I’m suggesting it! I’m sure there are still a bunch of people out there, that are in desperate need of a babysitter. Whether it be for their human babies or their fur babies, you know, heh.”  
“I’ll look into it.”, Logan acknowledged, “But still, I can’t possibly accept your offer.”  
“Would it change your mind if my parents told you, that you can stay?”, Patton wondered, giving Logan a small smirk.  
“Possibl-“  
“Good!”, that’s all Patton needed to hear before jumping out of his chair and running towards his parents.  
Logan sighed. Heavily.  
He did that a lot lately.

_Living here means I have to control myself better._

Nighttime rolled around.  
After hearing the horrible news about what Logan’s parents had done to him, Catherine and Mathew embraced Logan in a tight hug, reassuring him that he was indeed very welcome in their humble home, and that they accepted him just the way he was.  
Logan would have cried tears of joy, if he had shown emotion on the outside that is.  
They gave up the only guest room for Logan, so that he had a private space to himself.  
And while he appreciated that greatly, tonight he didn’t feel like sleeping all alone. So, with Patton’s help, he grabbed the mattress from the bed, formerly known as “guest bed”, and carried it into Patton’s room, plopping it next to his bed.  
“Oooh, lets make a little pillow fort!”, Patton suggested with glee.  
Usually, Logan would argue against it before allowing himself to ridicule to such a low form of entertainment. But maybe that’s what he needed.  
The steak, which he had struggled with getting down, didn’t help.  
So maybe building a pillow fort with his best friend might.  
“Why not.”, Logan shrugged.  
“For real?!”, Patton’s eyes lit up with joy, “Let’s go then!”

It didn’t take all too long for the two teen boys to build the fort. Logan put his logical input into things, trying to make the make shift housing as stable as possible.  
And yet, that didn’t make Logan feel any better.  
Patton, on the other hand, was ecstatic. He squealed with glee, ready to make himself comfortable in the small pillow house.  
His smile. His smile is what Logan made feel better.  
Logan didn’t know why that was. But he wanted more of that smile.  
“Oh, wait wait wait.”, Patton quickly rushed over to his closet, swinging the doors open and rummaging through the various onesies and hoodies he owned.  
“Are you going to put on a silly onesie?”, Logan raised an eyebrow.  
“Yup!”, the cheery boy grabbed two different onesies and presented them to Logan, “I don’t know if I should go with cat or unicorn though. What do you think?”  
“Well-“  
“Hold up, I have a better idea, you should wear one too!”  
“...”, Logan squinted his eyes, “You are aware I’m roughly 40 centimeters taller than you, right?”  
“Oh, right...”, Patton smiled sheepishly, “But you could wear one of my hoodies instead! Only if you want of course.”  
“It’s... fine. I don’t need one, but thank you for the offer.” Logan scratched his lower right arm.  
Patton took notice of Logan’s small gesture, but decided to let it slide for now.  
“Okay then!”, he sung as if nothing happened, “But still, I need help picking.”  
“Cat.”, Logan pointed at the dark grey cat onesie.  
“Awesome!”, Patton threw the cat onesie on his bed. He then shot a timid look at Logan.  
“Uh, could you turn around while I get changed?”, he asked with a small voice.  
“Oh, of course.”, Logan turned around, giving Patton the privacy he had asked for.  
It didn’t take too long for Patton to get changed.  
“Okay, I’m done!”  
Logan turned back around, facing an undoubtedly and objectively cute Patton, proudly presenting his article of full body clothing.  
“What do you think?”, he asked, spinning once, to show the full cuteness of the onesie.  
Logan felt his cheeks burn up.  
“It- It really suits you.”, he managed to get out.  
“But Logan!”, Patton pouted, “This isn’t a suit, it’s a onesie!”  
Logan had to take a moment to process the dad joke Patton just made. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with two fingers.  
“Hehe.”, Patton giggled, “Sorry, I had to.”  
“It’s fine.”, Logan waved it off, putting his glasses back on, “I should be used to it by now.”  
“You really should, hehe.”

_Please laugh more._  
_It’s adorable._

“So, what do you feel like doing?”, Patton wondered, “We could watch a movie, or do like a little book club thing of sorts.”  
“A movie sounds just fine.”, Logan took a seat on his mattress, which was the base for the pillow fort, “You pick.”  
“But you can’t complain about my pick, okay?”, Patton made his was towards his rack of DVDs and blue rays.  
“I won’t this time, I promise.”, Logan held up a hand.  
He let Patton pick on purpose. He knew very well that his tiny friend would pick something that made him absolutely happy. A nice, fluffy, wholesome Disney movie with a happy ending. Preferably with animals as their main focus.  
He just wanted to see Patton smile again.  
Speaking of, Patton finally had his pick. He grabbed his laptop from his desk and put it on the floor in front of Logan. He then took a seat next to the top student and tried getting the dvd to work in his rather old laptop. He pressed the power button.  
“Man, that thing takes so long to turn on...”, he complained quietly.  
“Perhaps we should use my laptop instead.”, Logan suggested, “I brought it with me for future school work.”  
“Sure! Let me get it for you!”, Patton jumped back up and rushed to Logan’s bag. Logan didn’t think much of that, aside from Patton becoming a little too pampering.  
He watched as the boy in the cat themed clothing kneeled down, opened the zipper of the bag and started rummaging past the various button ups and pants that were placed in the bag. Suddenly, the rummaging stopped.  
“Uh... Logan?”, Patton asked with a concerned tone.  
“Yes?”  
“Why do you have so many bandages with you?”

_Shit._  
_I forgot._

“I-“, he couldn’t think of a reason fast enough.  
“Logan, can I see your arm, please?”, Patton turned around with his upper body, staring at Logan.  
“Wha-“, escaped Logan’s mouth, “You don’t- You don’t think I-“  
“Logan, I did it myself.”, Patton admitted with a heavy heart, “I know all the signs. You stopped wearing short sleeved shirts all of the sudden, we haven’t been swimming ever since we were 13, I could keep going and going.”  
“You-“, Logan had been more shocked about the fact that Patton caused harm on himself rather than the fact that he had been found out.  
“Logan, please.”, Patton begged.  
“Why didn’t you tell me...?”, Logan mumbled. He didn’t purposely try to distract from himself, he was worried to no ends.  
“I-“, Patton scratched his neck, “I was afraid you’d see as some sort of freak. My parents found out rather quickly and got me help right away. I’ve been in therapy ever since.”  
“...”, Logan remained quiet. He didn’t quite know what words would be comforting in this kind of situation. Reassurance? Comfort? Probably the right choices, but hard to express for him.  
“But this isn’t about me!”, Patton suddenly exclaimed. He got up from his spot and made his way back to Logan as quick as possible. He took his previous place on the mattress, making sure to leave Logan some space to not overwhelm him. Patton even took of the hood, to give off a more serious manner. At least he tried to.  
“Please talk to me.”, he said softly.  
“...”, Logan looked away, removing his glasses from his face and placing them down on the ground next to him, “I... don’t know what to tell you.”  
“Do you... really do it?”  
Logan didn’t react to that question at first. But then decided to nod a little.  
“For how long?”  
“Since our 14th birthday.”, Logan softly caressed his lower arm, not to move any bandages around, “I don’t really know what triggered it. All I know is, that that felt like the right thing to do. I usually do it when I’m really stressed or feel... lonely.”  
Logan pulled his knees to his body and hugged them tightly. Patton took that opportunity and gave his best friend a hug. He carefully wrapped his arms around the other teen.  
Logan’s heart rate started to noticeably pick up speed.

_What?_  
_Why?_

“When was the last time you did it?”, Patton muttered into Logan’s shoulder.  
“Sh-Shortly before I left my old home.”, Logan lifted his arm and stared at it with blurry vision, “Maybe I should get the bandages changed.”  
“Let me do that for you.”, Patton was about to break the hug.

_No, don’t! Keep hugging me please!_

“What if the sight of my scars triggered you in any way?”, Logan quickly pointed out.  
“Oh... I didn’t think about that.”, Patton tightened his hug again, “But I’m sure you don’t want me to ask my mom to help you.”  
“I can manage. It’s not the first time I’m doing this.”  
“I wish it wasn’t even the first time, to be honest.”  
“But...”, Logan sighed, “But I don’t know what else to do. I don’t know how to deal with my emotions, I’m just- I’m just some android stuck in a human body, too stupid to understand feelings!”  
The black haired teen hid his face behind his knees, trying to hide the violent sobs and tears.  
“Hey, you’re showing emotion right now.”, Patton whispered, hoping Logan was able to hear that past his loud sobs.  
“I-I’m crying!”, he yelled, “How weak is that?!”  
“It’s not weak at all. You show that you’re hurt.”  
Logan felt Patton breaking the hug, for real this time. However, the cat loving boy only did that to shuffle in front of Logan, holding onto his hands.  
“Can you look up real quick?”, Patton asked kindly, “It’s okay, really. I don’t think you’re weak for crying.”  
Logan took a moment.  
“It’s okay, take your time.”, Patton comforted.  
A few more sobs and sniffles came from Logan before he finally looked up from behind his knees.  
“Please let us help you.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan is getting the help, that he was offered, and he meets a new friend along his journey.
> 
> Following trigger warnings apply: Non-explicit mentions of: non-con, drug abuse, self harm, death, unhealthy eating habits

Monday morning.  
Logan felt surprisingly tired, despite him being used to wake up before the sun had risen.  
Him and Patton sat in the back of Mathews pick up truck. Logan tried to stay awake during the ride, but eventually fell asleep again.  
Their trip went on for another hour. Roughly three hours in total.  
A gentle shake on the teens shoulder woke him up.  
“Hey, we’re here.”, the source of the shaking said softly.  
Logan slowly fluttered his eyes open, to adjust to the light. When he finally managed to get his eyes fully open, he looked outside the cars window. He saw a huge grey hospital building, hidden behind a few trees and bushes. He didn’t quite know what to make of that. But he agreed to staying in that building over the summer.  
“Hm.”, escaped his throat.  
“It’s going to be okay, trust me.”  
Logan turned his head, facing Patton, who had tried to comfort Logan.  
“I... guess so.”, Logan replied, tiredly.  
“Come on, dad already got your bag.”, Patton unbuckled and opened the car door.  
“Of course...”, Logan did the same, but much slower.  
Patton took notice of that and immediately dashed around the back of the truck to open the door for his childhood friend. He held out a hand for support. Logan seemed to have been too tired to get out of the car by himself.  
“Thanks.”, Logan muttered once both his feet hit the ground. He took a few steps forward, making space for Patton to close the door with a bang. It startled Logan a bit.  
“Sorry.”, Patton apologized.  
“...”, usually, Logan would say that it was okay, car doors tend to be loud, especially the ones from trucks, but he didn’t have the energy to say anything.

“Ah, Patton!”, the lady at the reception greeted kindly, “How are you?”  
“Hi Charlotte!”, Patton waved, “I’m doing great!”, he then put his attention to Logan, “This is Charlotte. She was the nurse responsible for me when I was here.”  
Logan gave a small nod.  
“I assume you’re Logan Croft then?”, Charlotte started typing at her computer.  
“Yes...”, Logan answered with a small voice.  
“Ooookayy...”, Charlotte mumbled while reading the file on her desktop, “Your room is 4-13. You have a roommate. You can take your time and unpack first, but we’re gonna pick you up later for some checkups, so we can plan your therapy sessions and diet.”  
Charlotte then noticed the sports bag Mathew was carrying.  
“Mr. Hart, you know the drill, right?”, she asked.  
Mathew gasped.  
“Right, right.”, he handed over the bag through the reception window.  
“Huh?”, escaped Logan’s mouth.  
“They have to check your bag for dangerous stuff.”, Patton filled Logan in.  
“Oh...”, was all Logan was able to contribute.  
The nurse will most likely find a bunch of things that can be deemed dangerous. Logan hadn’t removed them before heading to the hospital.  
“Ah, the laptop.”, Charlotte grabbed the device, alongside the charging cable, “You can only use it in the community room, you’d have to pick it up and bring it back to us. Is that okay with you?”  
“Why..?”, Logan wondered.  
Usually he’d get the reason just by sheer context, but he just had been too tired to think properly.  
“The cable causes a danger.”, the nurse explained.  
“Ah. I’m fine with that then.”  
“Good. I’ll put a sticker with your name on the laptop.”  
She set the portable computer aside for now and continued rummaging in the bag.  
“You seem to like wearing ties.”, Charlotte grabbed a handful of blue ties, “However, you can’t have them here. For pretty much the same reason as the charger.”  
“That’s okay...”, Logan mumbled.  
Charlotte handed the ties to Mathew.  
“Bandages...”, we’re the next things Charlotte found. She came to the conclusion, that there must be some sharp objects in the bag too.  
She checked and found a smaller, black bag. It most likely contained things like a toothbrush, shampoo, all that stuff.  
One swift movement opened the zipper of that bag. She dunked the contents out on a table and found what she had been looking for.  
“I have to confiscate these.”, she looked at Logan.  
He had been too ashamed to return the look. He knew they had to take the blades away.  
Charlotte put everything, except for the razor blades, back on the small bag and placed it in the sports bag.  
The last thing Charlotte had found was a plush frog.  
“That...”, Logan knew that wasn’t his.  
“I put it in there for you.”, Patton whispered, “I wanted you to have some familiar company while you’re here.”  
“But... it’s your favorite plush.”, Logan remembered.  
“I know, that’s why I want you to have it.”, Patton smiled, “I know Frogger is safe here with you.”  
Charlotte gave the round frog plush a few good squeezes, checking to see if there was anything hidden in the filling.  
“Okay, everything is a-okay now.”, Charlotte announced. She put the plush back and closed the bag.  
“Remy will bring you to your room.”, the nurse informed while handing the bag back to Mathew.  
There had been another nurse present. A man, with chestnut brown hair, drinking a cup of coffee. He scoffed.  
“You know I’m on my coffee break!”, he whined.  
“And you know those aren’t a real thing here.”, Charlotte countered, “Plus you know how often I tell you that all this coffee isn’t good for you.”  
“Ugh, fine. But you owe me a fresh cup.”, Remy got up from his seat.  
“I don’t.”, Charlotte laughed delighted.  
“Oh, well, I guess I’ll get it myself then later.”, Remy started to laugh too.  
The nurse finally made his way outside the reception.  
“Room 4-13, right?”, he asked his colleague, to be sure.  
“Yup.”  
“‘Kay, gotcha.”, with that, Remy led the way.  
“Are you okay with elevators, Logan?”, Remy asked.  
“Uh, yes..?”, the teen replied confused.  
“Okay nice.”, Remy nodded, “Some patients here are terrified of elevators, that’s why I’m asking. We have to head to the fourth floor, and the stairs can get pretty exhausting.”  
When the group arrived at an elevator, Remy pressed the up button.  
Lucky them, a lift had been waiting on the ground floor already.  
“Patients and guests first.”, he took a step aside.  
Mathew walked in first. Logan and Patton followed after.  
“Everyone on board.”, Remy entered last. He pushed the 4 button and leaned against the opposite wall.  
“Hey, your name tag!”, Patton suddenly pointed out, “It says Picani!”  
“Oh yeah.”, Remy looked at his name tag, “Dr. Picani and I got married earlier this year.”  
“Aw, congrats!”, Patton smiled.  
In the meantime, the elevator door had closed and the lift went up.  
“Thanks!”, Remy smiled.  
“Does Dr. Picani work here?”, Logan wondered.  
“Yeah, he’s one of the psychiatrists here.“, Remy filled in, “He’s the reason I got my job here in the first place. I think he’ll be your responsible doctor as well. I know for a fact he’s responsible for your roommate.”

_Right._  
_I have a roommate._

“I see.”  
“Don’t worry, he’s fine.”, Remy waved off, “Your roommate that is. A bit extra, but once you figure him out, he’s easy to handle.”  
“...”  
Before Logan could think of a response, the elevator came to a halt and the doors rushed open.  
“We’re here!”, Remy announced as he left the elevator.  
Once again, he led the way to room 13.  
When they arrived, Logan took a chance and checked the nameplate.

_R.D. Kingsley._  
_Hm._

“Knock knock knock.”, Remy sung as he knocked at the door. However the knock wasn’t to ask for permission to get in, considering Remy didn’t wait for a response when he opened the door.  
“Time to meet your new roomie, Remus!”, Remy cheered.

_Remus?_

Logan was the last one to enter the room. The first thing he heard was the TV. He didn’t know what channel it was on, considering he never watched TV, but it seemed to have been trashy reality TV.  
He then glanced over to the beds, one of which had been preoccupied by a teen around Logan’s age. Must have been Remus. He chose the bed on the door side, leaving the bed next to the window to Logan.  
Remy was right. Remus seemed very extra.  
His dark brown hair was decorated with a white streak in the front, a half grown mustache graced his upper lip. He had heterochromia as well, one eye was a reddish brown while the other was an emerald green. He wore a slightly oversized glittery green crop top, which had seen better days considering how torn and worn it looked. His low rising black sweatpants, revealing a bit too much than Logan would have wanted to see, were decorated with green and purple tentacles from an octopus. Ironically, the green socks were the least interesting part about his outfit.  
“Ooh, a new soul to torment!”, Remus giggled mischievously.  
“Hey, we talked about this, no tormenting you stinky trash rat.”, Remy warned jokingly.  
“Is that... how you talk to all of your patients?”, Logan asked, concerned.  
“Nah, only him.”, Remy pointed a thumb at Remus, “He’s my cousin.”  
Remus sat up, crossing his legs.  
“I assume that tall glass of sexiness is my new roomie?”, Remus wondered.  
“H-“, Logan was taken aback by the out of place comment.  
“What?”, Remus shrugged, “I like tall guys.”  
“Uh-“, Logan still needed some time to process Remus’s statements.  
“Yes, he is.”, Remy confirmed, “Don’t scare him too much though.”  
“I think it’s already too late for that, heh.”, Remus laughed, “Don’t worry, I don’t bite. Unless you want me to.”  
“No biting.”, Remy warned.  
“Ugh, you party pooper.”, Remus fell back on his pillow, stretching his legs out.  
“Hey, careful with your legs.”, Remy reminded his cousin, “Speaking of, we have to change the bandages later.”  
“I know, I know.”, Remus waved it off, “You pretend like this is the first time I’m stuck here.”  
“Well, I gotta go now. Logan, make yourself comfortable. I’ll come and pick you up in an hour.”, Remy smiled at the newcomer before putting his attention back to Remus, “And you, behave. Otherwise I’ll revoke your chocolate pudding rights.”  
Remus gasped theatrically.  
“You wouldn’t!”, he scoffed loudly.  
“You know very well I would.”, with that, Remy left the room and closed the door behind him.  
“Well, let’s get your clothes in the closet.”, Patton suggested.  
While him and Logan were busy with getting the various button ups and pants neatly in the small closet next to Logan’s bed, Remus put his attention back to the TV, laughing every now and again.  
After around ten minutes, all the clothes were taken care of. All that’s left in the bag were the things for the bathroom and Patton’s plush Frogger. He grabbed the round fleece toy and placed it neatly on Logan’s temporary pillow.  
“Well then, we have to leave now.”, Mathew informed the teens.  
“We’ll try and visit you as much as we can! I promise!”, Patton smiled, holding onto Logan’s hands, “I’ll also write you letters and send some postcards and-“  
“I won’t be here for too long, you know that.”, Logan stopped Patton from rambling.  
“Yeah, I know, but still. It’s what best friends do, right?”, Patton gave Logan a quick hug, “See you soon!”  
“And if you need to talk to any of us, the nurses can give you a phone to call us.”, Mathew gave Logan a pat on his shoulder.  
“Thank you.”, Logan broke the hug with Patton.  
With a small wave and a smile, Patton and his father left the room, leaving the two patients alone with each other for the first time.  
Logan took a seat on his bed, grabbing Frogger and inspecting him a little.  
“Hey, so, how tall are you?”, Remus put his attention to the nerd.  
“1,94m last time I checked.”, Logan replied.  
“Oh damn!”, Remus’s eyes grew wide, “How old are you?”  
“16.”  
“Nice, same! Almost. It’s my birthday soon. And I have to spend it here once again.”, Remus sat up again, turning towards Logan, letting his legs hang from the bed, “Who were the other dorks by the way?”  
“Patton is my childhood friend and the man was his dad Mathew.”, Logan explained, “I’m currently living with them.”  
“How come?”, Remus raised an eyebrow, “Did your parents die or sumn?”  
“Well...”, Logan’s arm got itchy again, “To me they are dead. And to them I am dead as well.”  
“Aw shit.”, Remus hissed, “That’s probably what got you here, huh?”  
“Partly.”  
“Hm...”, Remus hummed before shrugging, “Well, shit happens.”  
“What... got you here? If I’m allowed to ask.”, usually Logan wouldn’t engage in conversations with strangers, but considering he’d spent the next few weeks in the same room with Remus, it’d be best to get to know the other a bit better.  
“Oof, better question is what didn’t get me here.”, Remus chuckled, “You could play bingo with my fucked up brain. I got traumatized by my dads sudden death, which lead me to become addicted to coke, and cock, heh.”

_He really has a potty mouth._

“I may or may not have slept with countless of adult men. Used to be my coping mechanism.”  
“That’s... highly illegal.”  
“So is coke?”, Remus exclaimed, “You sure got some weird priorities, Lo.”  
“Lo?”, Logan tilted his head confused.  
“I like giving people nicknames.”, Remus smiled crookedly, “Other than that, I also fucked up my legs by slashing them open almost daily. The pain made me feel nice.”  
Logan’s itch grew bigger once again.  
“I also got some funky little intrusive thoughts and night terrors going on. I’m like a surprise bag of fucked up braincells! Hahaha!”, Remus laughed wholeheartedly, “Not to mention I almost died, twice. The doctors see both times as suicide attempts, but in reality, I just didn’t know when to stop.”  
“You don’t have to go into detail...”, Logan stopped Remus’s ramble.  
“Sure, sure.”, Remus got up from his bed, “I gotta get some bandages changed now though, you want me to show you where you can do that?”  
“How-“  
“Your arm.”, Remus pointed at Logan’s arm, “You’ve been unconsciously scratching it nervously.”  
“Oh, I didn’t notice.”, Logan looked down, seeing his left hand sitting on his right arm.  
“Obviously.”, Remus made his way towards the door, “Come on, I’ll show you around this hellhole.”  
“Hellho- but I thought-“  
“I’m just kidding.”, Remus opened the door, “You’re not that big on jokes huh?”  
“Well-“  
“I take that as a yes, let’s go!”

Dinner time.  
After getting all checked up, Logan got his diet plan.  
Charlotte and Remy were responsible for doing all the surface work, like weighing the body and drawing blood.  
Turned out, Logan was underweight and slightly malnourished.  
To be fair, he wasn’t able to get the most healthy and nutritious foods with the little money he had.  
So his diet plan was trying to help him get back to a healthy weight.  
He also got his bandages changed. It felt relieving that he hadn’t had to do it himself this time around.  
He also got a first diagnosis, but was told that that’s just a starting point, it may change over time. Other than that, Remy had been right once again.  
Dr. Emile Picani was the responsible doctor for Logan.  
A kind man. A bit on the childish side of things. Reminded Logan of Patton quite a lot.  
“So, what did Emi get outta your head?”, Remus, who sat at the same table as Logan, asked while shoving some cooked vegetables in his mouth.  
Remus’s diet seemed to have been generally healthy things. Logan didn’t want to assume, but he guessed the strange teens previous diet consisted of take out and fast food.  
“So far, depression.”, Logan poked his food, “Trauma from the way my parents treated me. I also need to work on not repressing my emotions. Or, well, first I need to learn how to distinguish them.”  
“Oh, repression can get real bad.”, Remus said mouth half full, “Ugh, this crap food needs more salt.”, he muttered before continuing his thought, “I’ve been repressing a lotta bullshit and see where that got me.”  
“...”, Logan still wasn’t too sure what to make of Remus, “Well, I’m sure you’re happy to return back home then.”  
“Maybe, I dunno.”, Remus poked his food, “While I’m stuck in here, my family is moving to another town. At least I don’t have to do all the box carrying shit.”  
“They’re moving while you’re in the hospital?“, Logan wondered surprised.  
“I didn’t plan to end up here the third summer in a row, but my brain had a different opinion on that matter.”, he took another bite, “The worst part about this is though that once I’m outta here, high school starts and I literally don’t know anybody yet.”  
“Where are you guys moving to?”  
“Sandersburgh.”  
“Oh.”, Logan exclaimed, “That’s where Patton and I live. There’s a chance we’ll attend the same high school.”  
“Huh, lucky me then!”, Remus smiled, he had a bit of broccoli stuck in his teeth.  
“You got some food between your teeth.”, Logan told him.  
“Hmm, my snack for later.”, Remus joked.  
Suddenly, Remy joined the table. He was about to head home, so he took the chance to talk to his cousin before heading out for good.  
“So, has Remus been playing nice?”, he asked Logan teasingly.  
“I did!”, Remus replied for Logan, “We’re basically best friends now.”  
“I’m sure you two are, hehe.”, Remy laughed, “By the way, I saved you some chocolate pudding.”  
“Sweet!”, the teen cheered excitedly.  
“Ah.”, Remy exclaimed. He leaned back a little to have better access to his pocket, “Got a text.”  
When he finally got his phone out he checked the message.  
”It’s from your favorite twin.”, Remy informed his cousin.  
“Tell him he stinks.”, Remus said.  
“You can tell that yourself, here, I dialed his number for ya.”, Remy handed over his phone to Remus. The latter sighed, but held the phone against his ear, waiting for the other to pick up.  
_“Hey, Remus!”_ , a somewhat pompous voice greeted Remus.  
“What’s up Prince Sucks-a-lot? You wanted to chat?”  
_“I pretend I did not hear that. I just wanted to check up on you! How’s it going?”_  
“I’m as good as it gets. Coffeemeister saved me some extra pudding.”  
_“You and your pudding...”_  
“Hey, that’s the only decent food this hellhole has! How’s moving going?”  
_“Ugh, horrible! The truck didn’t arrive on time, so we have to continue until the middle of the night. It’s truly a tragedy. Our moms are exhausted too, they just wanna go to sleep and call it a day.”_  
“Don’t-“, Remus stopped himself from finishing that sentence, “W-Well, as long as you don’t break any of my shit, I don’t care how long it’ll take you to move. How’s my little friend doing? I sure as hell hope he’s still alive when I come back.”  
_“Octo is fine, he was the first thing we brought into our new home so he wouldn’t freeze to death.”_  
“Good. Don’t forget to feed him. Or I’ll feed you to a monster octopus.”  
_“You wouldn’t even know where to find one.”_  
“Oh, don’t underestimate me, Roman. I can find all sorts of things.”  
_“Right. Did something interesting happen on your end?”_  
“I got a a new roomie! His name is Logan, he’s pretty hot.”  
Logan chocked on his food a little. He coughed, trying to get the piece out, Remy came around the table to help him by slapping his back. Logan really didn’t like the way Remus flirted with him, but he’ll most likely had to get used to it.  
_“Can you stop being horny for just two minutes?”_  
“Nah, that’s boring.”, Remus pretended like he didn’t notice Logan struggling, “Plus he’s my age so I’d say that’s progress.”  
_“True. Well, I gotta hang up now, we really need to get done. I should tell you that our moms love you. You can call them later if you want.”_  
“Uh... yeah sure, whatever. See ya, prep.”  
_“Bye, trash goblin!”_  
Remus was faster with hanging up. He put the phone on the table and leaned his head on the free hand, silently poking his food.  
Logan, in the meantime, had managed to get the small piece of food out of the wrong tube. He gave Remus a worried look. He noticed.  
“What?”, he asked annoyed.  
“Nothing...”, Logan looked down on his own food.  
Remy noticed Remus’s atypical calm behavior as well.  
“... You know you gotta give her a chance eventually, right?”, he said.  
“Fuck you, Remy.”, Remus angrily got up from his seat and brought his tray back to the food counter. He then stormed off, possibly back to his room.  
Remy sighed.  
“What happened?”, Logan asked carefully.  
“Roman probably mentioned their parents somehow.”, Remy scratched his head.  
“Roman is his twin I assume?”, Logan guessed.  
“Yeah.”, the nurse nodded, “You see, Uncle Romulus, Remus’s dad, died a few years ago. Him and Remus were extremely close, while Roman was more connected to their mother Anne. Romulus’s death came sudden and unexpected, which traumatized Remus.”, Remy sighed again, “His mental health already went downhill from that point on, but it was still manageable. Eventually, Anne moved on and started dating someone else. Her name is Maria. Remus couldn’t, and still can’t, accept that. His mental health got worse and worse until he had to come here for the first time. Ever since then, he’s been kind of stagnating when it comes to any process.”  
“...”, Logan also got up from his seat, “I will see if he’s okay.”  
“Let me bring the plate back for you.”, Remy picked up the almost empty plate.  
“Thank you.”

Once Logan arrived at his room, he heard loud banging noises coming from the inside. When he opened the door and peeked inside, he noticed Remus had been punching the wall to a point where his knuckles turned bloody.  
“Remus-?”, Logan called out to the teen.  
Remus stopped in his tracks, glaring at Logan.  
“Heh.”, he laughed. However, this time it didn’t seem because Remus thought something was funny.  
“Do you know what it’s like to lose your dad?”, he asked, “Like, for real? One day he just -plop- falls over and is a goner! Leaving you all alone in this fucked up world! And then, your mom decides to forget all about him and bang some random lesbian she found at the corner of the street, and to make things worse, she marries that whore! And- and then, that whore thinks she has the right to replace your dad! Isn’t that **hilarious**?!“, Remus punched the wall again at the word “hilarious”, not breaking eye contact with Logan, “That slut can choke on my dead dads ashes!”  
“I- I need to get help-“  
“Help?! Hahahahaha.”, Remus laughed loudly, “I’m too far gone stilts, it’s too late for help! I’m better off dead myself!”  
Lucky for Logan, help was already present. The patient in the other room heard the banging noise and called two nurses to check out the situation.  
“We got this, don’t worry.”, one of them said as they squeezed past Logan to take care of Remus. They dragged him outside and closed the door for now.  
First night and he had to spend it alone.  
Logan was alone once more.  
Well. Not entirely.  
He had Frogger with him.  
He grabbed the plush toy and inspected it a bit. He gave it a few light squishes before hugging it tightly.

_Smells like Patton...._

“Good fucking morning, nerdy Wolverine!”, Remus cheered as if the thing the night prior never happened. He happily waltzed up to his bed and let himself fall onto it.  
Logan had just finished getting ready for breakfast.  
“Are- are you okay?”, he had to ask.  
“Does is look like I am?”, Remus grinned, “Well, I guess I am. Look at my cool new glove.”, he flashed his bandaged hand.  
“Ah.”, escaped Logan’s mouth.  
“I already had breakfast. You can go ahead and have a good time.”, Remus waved Logan to go outside.

_I’m not going to question that and further._

When Logan came back from breakfast, and a fresh set of bandages around his arm, he hadn’t expected to see a shaved and white hair streak missing Remus in the middle of he room.  
“You must be Logan!”, he greeted, instantly bolting towards the black haired teen.  
“I’m Roman!”, the Remus lookalike introduced himself, “Remus’s older twin.”  
“Stop fucking lying you bottom!”, came from around the corner were the beds were located, “I’m the older one!”  
“Ah, yes, I heard about you.”, Logan shook Romans hand, “Yes, I’m Logan.”  
“I assume you only heard good things about me!”, Roman walked back to the spot he had been standing before.  
“Well-“, Logan followed, “I heard that you’re stinky according to your brother, you’re Remus’s twin; identical I assume;-“, the twins nodded, “-and that you recently moved to Sandersburgh.”  
“When did you say I was stinky, Duke-y?”, Roman crossed his arms and glared at his brother.  
“Shortly before we had our little call yesterday.”, Remus grinned.  
“What’s with you two and the royal titles?”, Logan wondered, “Remus called you Prince yesterday, Roman.”  
“Correction, I called him Prince Sucks-a-lot.”, Remus threw in.  
“... Noted.”, Logan nodded.  
“Those are our names.”, Roman said.  
“Your name is Roman Prince Sucks-a-lot Kingsley?”, Logan raised an eyebrow.  
“What? No!”, Roman blushed out of embarrassment, “Just Prince! Roman Prince Kingsley.”  
“And my second name is Dick!”, Remus threw in cheerfully.  
It left both Roman and Logan baffled.  
“Nah, just kidding, it’s Duke.”, Remus cleared the air, “But Dick would be kinda funny, not gonna lie.”  
“To you.”, Roman added.  
“I’m sure I can find someone else who’d think that’d be hilarious.”, Remus shrugged.  
“Sure, Rem.”, the twin brother laughed, “But you two seem to get along just fine.”  
“I assume so.”, Logan walked past Roman and took a seat on his bed.  
“Aw, come on Logie, we’re basically best friends at this point, heh.”, Remus shot some flirty eyes at his room mate.

_Best friend..._

Logan unconsciously grabbed the plush frog and hugged it loosely, letting it sit on his lap.  
Something didn’t feel right.  
He slowly lost focus, the chatty voices of the twins slowly turning dull. As if Logan was turning deaf. His vision blurred so bad that he decided to close his eyes.  
His heart once again started bumping much faster than it should, causing Logan to break out into sweat. His body shivered rapidly, his breath fell flat and short.

_What is this....?_

When he came back to his clear mind, he found himself sitting on the floor, leaning against his bed. His glasses and Frogger were missing.  
Logan started to panic again.  
“Hey, calm down.”, a familiar voice told him, “The frog is on your bed.”  
“Can- Can I-“, Logan stuttered.  
“Here.”, a second voice handed him the plush toy.  
Logan was slowly able to figure out who had calmed him down.  
Remus sat in front of him, on the floor, while Roman stood aside, keeping a little distance. He was the one who gave Logan Patton’s plush.  
“Breathe with me, come on.”, Remus asked, “In through your nose for 4, I’ll count for ya.”  
Logan did that he was asked to.  
“One, two, three, four. Now hold for seven.”  
Logan closed his eyes and held his breath.  
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. And out for eight. Through your mouth.”  
Logan let the air escape through his mouth.  
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Let’s do this again, okay?”  
Logan and Remus went through that cycle a bunch of times until the former was calm and collected enough to properly talk.  
“What happened?”, Logan asked with a small voice.  
“Looked like you had a panic attack.”, Remus got up from the ground. He held a hand out for Logan, to help him get up too.  
“Panic attack?”, Logan asked once he stood on his feet.  
“Yeah.”, Remus confirmed, “Never had those?”  
“N-No.”, Logan sat down on his bed.  
“Hmm...”, Remus mirrored Logan’s movement and sat down as well.  
“It’s... probably because I haven’t done, you know, for a while.”, Logan admitted. Remus knew exactly what he meant.  
“Makes sense. You should bring that up with Emile.”, the twin pointed a finger gun at his roommate with his bandaged hand. That’s when Roman noticed.  
“Hey, what’s up with your hand?”, he asked concerned.  
“Oh, I punched the wall behind you.”, Remus casually elaborated, “You can still see the bloodstain if you look close enough.”  
Roman didn’t question his brothers statement. He knew exactly why he did it.  
“I’m... sorry.”, he apologized.  
“What are you apologizing for, you dunce?”, Remus raised an eyebrow in confusion.  
“It’s probably because...”, Roman rubbed his neck nervously, “Because of the whole Maria situation.”  
Anger boiled up again in Remus’s stomach. However, this time, he tried to control himself.  
“That cuntbag can fuck off.”, he muttered aggressively.  
“Look, she really isn’t trying to replace dad!”  
“But she sure as hell is acting like it!”  
“She’s just trying to be a good mother!”  
“Good mother?! Bullshit! She’s glad when the day I join dad comes around!”  
“Remus, please stop saying that!”, a few tears made their way down Romans cheeks, “No one wants you gone...”  
“Stop crying.”, Remus spat, “Your acting doesn’t impress me.”  
“This isn’t acting!”, Roman wiped the tears with his sleeve, “And you know it!”  
“Then why are you against me all the time?!”, Remus screamed frustrated, while also crying, “Every time I rant about Maria you constantly defend her! It’s like you don’t care what I think, you just want me to pretend like everything’s sunshine and rainbows! Fuck my feelings, right?!”  
“Remus-“  
“Just-“, Remus held up a hand, indicating for Roman to stay quiet, “Just go home. I don’t have the nerve for this.”  
“Please-“  
“Go!”, Remus emphasized, “It’s bad enough I have to see your face when I look in the mirror. Now fuck off.”  
“You know how much I hate leaving you after an argument.”, Roman still tried to bend the situation back to normal.  
“Then you shouldn’t have brought up that slut Maria.”, Remus crossed his arms and looked away from Roman.  
Silence. The air felt thick, the tension between the brothers was high.  
Roman sighed as he turned on one heel towards the door. He most likely was about to leave.  
“Love ya, Remus.”, he muttered.  
“Yeah, sure.”, Remus spat back.  
“Bye...”, Roman heavily dragged his feet to the door and left.  
“Hey, you know what’s it’s like to be lonely, right?”, the twin asked Logan once he had heard the door shut.  
“... All too well.”, Logan replied, hugging the plush tighter.  
“So, you would understand me when I say I feel lonely because my dad is gone, right?”, Remus looked up, his expression rather sad.  
“Yes, I guess so.”, Logan nodded.  
“See, that’s the thing they don’t get!”, Remus was most likely referring to his family, “They don’t understand, that I’m fucking lonely! ‘Oh, but we miss dad as much as you do!’ Bullshit! They didn’t see him die! They didn’t have the same relationship I had with him! And they constantly disregard my feelings whenever they can!”  
Remus let out an annoyed groan and fell backwards on his bed.  
“... You see, I’m probably the last person to talk about emotions and feelings, seeing as I struggle with those a lot.”, Logan started explaining, “But the way I see it, is that moving on doesn’t mean you should forget about your father completely. You’re right, Maria won’t replace him. No one can replace him. Moving on in this context merely means you should be open to new things while cherishing the memory of the old things.”  
“Then why is my family pretending like they forgot all about dad?”, Remus wondered, “Mom took down all the photos of him, we barely talk about him as well.”  
“Maybe your mother and Roman are still hurting, and they’re trying to move on by not bringing him up as much. Are you still visiting his grave when any important anniversary comes around?”  
“... Yeah.”, Remus admitted.  
“See?”, Logan noted, “That should mean something, right?”  
“.... Yeah.”, Remus sighed defeated.  
“I can see why you feel the way you do when the others are trying to shutting you down. But have you ever considered how they feel? Have you ever talked to them about this whole ordeal?”  
“Not... really.”, Remus scratched his cheek, “Maybe I should though.”  
“It would be a good start.”  
“Hmm...”

It’s been two weeks since Logan came to the hospital. Roman came around every once in a while, keeping Remus updated on current situations. And also on Octo’s well-being.  
It was shortly after breakfast, the two patients had just returned to their room.  
“What are you up to today?”, Remus asked while turning on the TV. They weren’t allowed to have the remote control, so he had to use the buttons on the device itself.  
“I’m free until 2 PM.”, Logan checked his schedule, “I was thinking of heading to the community room and work on some projects.”  
“You really are a nerd.”, Remus threw himself on his bed, “Watcha workin’ on?”  
“Some... essays in astronomical science.”, Logan fixed his glasses.  
“That sounds fucking cool actually.”, Remus affirmed.  
“You’re interested?”, Logan asked confused, “I didn’t expect you to like that kind of stuff.”  
“Oh, I love science, hehe.”, Remus giggled, “But I’m more the kind of person to blow things up or cut dead things open.”  
“Chemistry and biology.”, Logan put it in simpler and less barbaric terms.  
“Yeah, that.”, Remus confirmed.  
“Well, if you happen to end up at my high school, you’ll be happy to find that we have clubs and extra curriculums in both subjects.”  
“Neato.”, Remus smiled.  
A knock at the door interrupted the small banter between the roommates. The knock had a little tune, so it was save to assume that that hadn’t been a nurse.  
Logan shot Remus a questioning look. The latter shrugged.  
“Come in!”, Logan gave permission for the guest to enter.  
“Heya!”, a familiar cheery voice greeted happily as the source of it entered the room.  
It warmed Logan’s heart.  
“Salutations, Patton!”, he smiled.  
“Ah...”, Patton stopped in his tracks, “You’re smiling!”  
“I-“, that statement caught Logan off guard. He felt his cheeks burn up and his heart rate fasten.  
“That’s great!”, Patton beamed, closing the door behind him and rushing towards his best friend, giving him a hug.  
Logan blinked a few times, trying to comprehend his current situation. He reflexively hugged Patton back, face red as a stop sign.  
Remus took note of that and shot Logan a teasing look.  
Before Logan had any chance to react, Patton broke the hug. He quickly turned around with his upper body and gave Remus a wave.  
“Hi Remus!”, he sung.  
“Heya, dork.”, Remus greeted back teasingly, “What’s with your backpack? You’re moving in with us?”  
Logan failed to notice that Patton had a backpack with him.  
“Oh, no, I’ve been here before, I don’t need to come back again, hehe.”, he said while taking his backpack off, “I came by train, so I needed some snacks on my way here. But also, I got some presents for you guys!”  
“Wait.”, Remus sat up, “For me too?”  
“Yeah!”, Patton placed his bag on the ground and kneeled down for easier access, “It’s all approved by Charlotte, so it’s all fine.”  
“That’s great and all, but why me too?”, Remus wondered, “You barely know me.”  
“I just like making others happy.”, Patton explained with a wide smile, “Now, where is it... Ah!”  
He pulled out a plush toy. This time it was shaped like a cute octopus. But instead of long tentacles, it had eight little nubs around his body.  
“This one’s for you!”, he handed the small plushie to Remus.  
“An octopus plush?!”, Remus grabbed it excitedly, “He looks just like Octo!”  
“Octo?”, Patton tilted his head confused.  
“His pet octopus.”, Logan filled in. He managed to slowly calm down by now.  
“You actually have a pet octopus?”, Patton’s eyes lit up, “That’s so cool!”  
“You can meet him once I’m outta here.”, Remus said, “Logan told me y’all live in Sandersburgh too.”  
“We do! Wow, that’s amazing!”, Patton jumped up and down on the spot before kneeling back down again to grab the next gift. He pulled out what seemed like a large soft piece of white fabric. Logan watched silently as Patton revealed what that fabric really was. A cardigan.  
With a hood that resembled an owl head and tiny bird tail on the back.  
“Ah..”, Logan was rather confused.  
“Okay, lemme explain.”, Patton lowered the article of clothing again, “I originally wanted to get you a onesie too, but that’s basically impossible with your long legs and all. So I kept searching and found this fuzzy cardigan instead!”  
“But... an owl?”, Logan wondered.  
“A snow owl to be exact.”, Patton handed the cardigan over to his friend, “I dunno, you remind me of snow owls. They’re known for being smart, plus our birthdays are close to winter! And snow owls are really pretty as well!”  
Logan’s face started heating up again.

_Did he call me... pretty?_

“T-Thank you, Patton.”, he put the cardigan on right away, trying to calm his nerves again.  
Patton gasped loudly.  
“I didn’t think you would put it on right away!”, he cheered.  
After fitting both arms snuggly in the sleeves, Logan put the hood, which resembled the head of a snow owl, on.  
“So?”, Logan stretched his arms. He realized some extra weight hanging from them.  
“... Wings?”, he inspected the sleeves. And indeed, they had tiny wings attached.  
“Wings?!”, Patton’s eyes lit up, “I didn’t know it had wings too!”  
“You could try and fly.”, Remus suggested.  
“... No!”, Patton exclaimed.  
“I will do no such thing, and I could scientifically tell you why.”, Logan countered.  
“Hey, technically bumblebees are too fat to fly and yet they still do it.”, Remus debunked.  
“... He’s got a point.”, Logan mumbled before putting his attention back to his roomie, “But I’m still not going to try to fly with this cardigan.”  
“Eh, was worth a shot.”, Remus shrugged.  
“Oh!”, Patton remembered he had one more gift. He got down to his backpack once more and pulled a plastic box out.  
“I made cookies! We can share!”, he smiled, “I hope you’re not allergic to anything, Remus.”  
“Only cats.”, Remus got up from his bed to grab some treats.  
“Oh, me too, heh.”, Patton opened the box.  
The three teens continued to share the box of cookies until Logan had to leave for his therapy sessions, meaning Patton went on his merry way home.

Nighttime.  
Logan was finally through with his final session, he hadn’t seen Remus ever since he left for his 2 PM therapy.  
He was quite exhausted and ready for bed. If it weren’t for Mister Kingsley.  
“Sooooo.”, Remus asked with a teasing voice as Logan made his was to his bed.  
“So?”, Logan raised his eyebrow in confusion.  
“You and Patton, huh?”, Remus grinned devilishly.  
“Yes?”, Logan sat down on the edge of his bed, “What about us?”  
“Oh, come on, don’t pretend!,” Remus turned on his side, doing the “draw me like one of your French girls” kind of pose.  
“Pretend... what?”, Logan still seemed to have been clueless.  
“Wait, you really don’t realize, huh?”, Remus eyes grew wide.  
“What?”, Logan began to become a little frustrated with Remus’s teasing.  
“My guy, my dude, my buddy!”, Remus swung his legs over the edge to get up and grab Logan by his shoulders, “You gay little shit!”  
“Are you done ye-“, before Logan was able to finish his sentence, realization hit him.  
“Wait- I never told you I was-“  
“You pretend like I wouldn’t get context clues, you dork.”, Remus rolled his eyes, “Also you have a fat crush on your little childhood friend!”  
“I-“, Logan’s eyes moved around nervously, trying to find a spot to focus on, but failing.  
Remus let go of the shoulders and took a step back.  
“You good?”, he asked concerned.  
“I... I don’t really know how to determine that.”, Logan explained, furrowing his brows, “How do you know when you have a crush on someone?”  
“Uh...”, Remus stumbled back until he accidentally hit his bed and fell onto it. However he managed to catch himself and remain seated upright.  
“To be fair, I only know from my mushy brother what having a crush on someone really looks like.”, Remus scratched his chin, “He usually gets all blushy and giddy and smiley. It’s quite the atrocious sight, not gonna lie. That’s why I usually tease him with his crushes. The way you reacted to Sprinkles affection kinda reminded me of that.”  
“Sprinkles?”  
“Patton has freckles all over him, I had to.”  
“Ah.”, Logan fixed his glasses, “So, you don’t know what it’s like either?”  
“I was too busy getting fucked senseless by randos off the street.”, Remus shrugged, “It’s a miracle I haven’t caught anything yet.”  
“Hm...”, Logan put a finger on his chin, “Maybe I should go deeper into that matter.”  
“Pfff-“, Remus spat.  
Once again, Logan didn’t catch onto Remus’s implication.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan and Remus finally head home again.  
> ... Yeah, that's it.
> 
> Folowing trigger warnings apply: Non-explicit mentions of: non-con, death

Summer vacation was almost over.  
Logan and Remus sat in the entrance hall, waiting to be picked up.  
“You got my number, right?”, Remus asked.  
“Written down on a word document on my laptop.”, Logan confirmed, “I will make sure to send you a text once I’m in possession of my phone again.”  
“Neat.”, the twin grinned.  
“Well, you two seem to get along just fine.”, Remy suddenly joined in on the conversation. He took a seat next to his cousin.  
“How are you feeling?”, the nurse asked the patients.  
Logan was the first one to speak.  
“I learned a lot about myself.”, he stated, “And I will most likely continue to learn more things I hadn’t been aware of.”  
“Like how you wanna-“  
“Don’t even go there, Remus.”, Logan knew what was coming and stopped it before happening.  
“What?”, Remus threw his hands in the air, “I was just talking about you and Patton!”  
“Exactly. That’s why I stopped you.”  
“Hm, got me there, hehe.”  
“Well, good luck on that adventure.”, Remy smiled, “What about you, raging dumpster rat man?”  
“Hmmmm.”, Remus crossed his arms and sunk his head in his shoulders.  
“Come on.”, Remy poked his arm.  
“Hmmmmmmmm.”, Remus groaned louder, sliding down his chair.  
“I’m listenin’.”, the nurse sung.  
“Don’t you have work to do?”, Remus muttered.  
“I’m doing it right now.”, Remy leaned on his hand, “Don’t be a pussy, come on.”  
“Ugh, fine!”, Remus exclaimed frustrated.  
He took a moment before elaborating on his side of things.  
“I... may wanna a dress the entire... Maria situation with my family...”, he got quieter the closer he got to the end of the sentence.  
“You’re giving Maria a chance?”, Remy raised an eyebrow.  
“No!”, Remus instantly shot up, “Noo, fuck you, no! What I am doing is listening to what mom and Roman Lettuce have to say.”  
“It’s a start.”, Remy pat Remus’s shoulder, “I’m proud of ya.”  
“Th-thanks...”, Remus looked away, slightly flustered.  
“Text me how that went.“, Remy got up from his seat, “Gotta head off to work now, see ya! But not in here please.”  
“Oh so _now_ you have work to do?!”, Remus yelled after him.  
The only response he got was a bird.  
“You must be excited to see your new home.”, Logan tried starting a new conversation with his now friend.  
“Actually, yeah.”, Remus nodded, “I also can’t wait to see what I can vandalize, hehe.”  
“Of course.”, Logan rolled his eyes, but snickered lightly while doing so.  
“Don’t worry, I’ll leave your house spared.”  
“You better.”  
“Ah, Logan!”, a voice came from the entrance. It was Patton, accompanied by his father, waving at Logan with a big smile.  
“Well.”, Logan got up from his seat, “Seems like it’s time for me to head home.”  
“Ah!”, Remus exclaimed over dramatically, “You’re really leaving me here? All alone?”  
“I’m sure you’ll be picked up soon.”, Logan grabbed his sports bag from the ground. He threw the handle over his shoulder before glancing over at the entrance. That’s when he spotted another familiar face behind the Hart family.  
“See?”, he pointed at them, “Roman’s here.”  
“Huh?”, Remus turned his head to check for himself, “Oh yeah, there he is!”  
Remus jumped up and threw his backpack on. The two teens made their way to the others, greeting them with hugs.  
“Where’s mom?”, Remus asked after breaking the hug with his brother, “Don’t tell me we have to go by train.”  
“Actually-“, Roman pointed at Mathew and Patton with his thumb, “-they’re taking us with them.”  
“Yeah!”, Patton cheered, “Turns out, we live in the same neighborhood!”

_Patton went out on his afternoon walk with Fluffball._   
_Both his parents were currently at work, so that task was his to fulfill._   
_The teen had to stop in his tracks, as Fluffball found a spot to sniff out completely._   
_“Take your time, heh.”, he told the tiny canine._   
_His attention swiftly changed as a teen boy walked past Patton. He looked just like Remus, except more well kept. He wore a red sports jacket with a crown embroidered on the front, sleeves rolled up to the elbows. He combined the jacket with light blue jeans, red sneakers and a Disney themed shirt._   
_“Remus?”, Patton called out, “What are you doing here? And what’s with the sudden style change?”_   
_“What?”, “Remus” stopped in front of Patton, “Oh, I’m not Remus, that’s my twin. I’m Roman. But how do you know my brother?”_   
_“He’s my friends roommate.”, Patton explained._   
_“Ah, you must be Patton Logan keeps talking about!”_   
_“Yeah! Remus told me that his family moved here recently, seems like we live in the same neighborhood!”, Patton clapped happily._   
_“What a marvelous coincidence!”, Roman smiled._

“Mom asked Mr. Hart if he could pick you up as well.”, Roman filled in, “Her and Maria weren’t able to take work off because they just started, you know?”  
“Well, at least I don’t have to see her face for now.”, Remus muttered annoyed.  
Roman sighed, but let it slide.  
“Let’s hit the roads, shall we?”, Mathew spun the car keys on his finger, “We have a three hour ride ahead of us after all.”  
“Bye guys!”, Charlotte, who had been sitting at the reception once again, waved. Remy stood behind her, doing the same.  
The group of males waved back while leaving the building.

“I call shotgun!”, Remus yelled, making his way to the passenger seat in the front.  
“He always does, heh.”, Roman thought out loud.  
“There should be plenty of room for the three of you in the back, don’t worry.”, Mathew said while unlocking the truck.  
“I will sacrifice myself and take the middle seat.”, Patton jokingly swore.  
Logan, in the meantime, put his bag on the loading space of the pick up.  
“Remus, your bag!”, Roman reminded his brother while entering the vehicle.  
“Ah, right.”, Remus struggled to get his bag off his back while walking to the backside of the car.  
“Yeet!”, he yelled while throwing his luggage carelessly next to Logan’s bag. He then sprinted back to the front and finally took his seat. Logan was the last to enter, as he had to wait for Patton to scoot in the middle.  
“Everyone buckled up?”, Mathew asked while turning the key to start the engine.  
Various confirmations were heard.  
“Alrighty!”, Mathew put his truck in reverse to get out of the parking spot.  
“Hey, is there a chance we can stop at a McDonalds?”, Remus asked while drumming on seat with his fingers.  
“You know you shouldn’t eat too much fast food, right?”, Roman reminded his brother.  
“I haven’t had fast food in weeks!”, Remus complained, “Let me have a cheeseburger for fucks sake!”  
“Hey, language.”, Mathew scolded the messy twin.  
“That won’t work with him, Mathew.”, Logan chimed in.  
“Well.”, Mathew shrugged, “I can still try.”  
“You’d be wasting your time with that, heh.”, Remus laughed a little, “But back to my question-“  
“No fast food for you, mister!”, Roman squished Remus’s cheek.  
“You’re brave for putting your hand near biting territory.”, Remus warned.  
Roman instantly shot back, leaving the others face alone.  
“Is that what it’s like to have siblings?”, Patton wondered. Logan shrugged.  
“Nah, that’s only what it’s like to have Remus as your sibling.”, Roman joked.  
“Oh, you think it’s all happy sunshine time with you as a brother?”, Remus joined the joking banter.  
“Well, yes!”, Roman puffed his chest out proudly, “I’m magnificent after all!”  
“Pffff, you wish!”, Remus laughed wholeheartedly.

The twins were the first one to be dropped off. They both thanked Mathew for bringing them back home.  
“Of course, no problem!”, Mathew waved.  
“See ya!”, Remus smiled while running towards the front door of his new home. Backwards.  
He didn’t notice that there was a step.  
“Remus, oh my god!”, Roman yelled as he saw his brother tumble backwards.  
“I’m fine!”, Remus gave a thumbs up, “The backpack softened my fall.”  
“Well then.”, Roman scratched his neck, “See you guys in school, hopefully.”  
“The chances of that happening are infinitesimal.”, Logan nodded.  
“... Very small?”, Patton questioned.  
“No?”, Logan replied confused, “The chances are very likely.”  
“But you just said the opposite.”, Patton corrected, “Infinitesimal means very small.”  
“...”, Logan thought for a moment, “Hey, yeah, you’re right!”  
“Hehe.”, Patton giggled before putting his attention back to Roman, “See you guys on Monday then!”  
With that, Mathew drove off, leaving the twins by themselves.  
“Alright, you big chungus, let’s get you up from the ground.”, Roman walked up to his brother, holding out a hand. Remus held on and was pulled up.  
“You good?”, Roman asked once Remus stood on his feet again.  
“I’ve had worse.”, Remus shrugged.  
“Alright then.”, Roman got the house keys from his pocket, “Ready to see your new home?”  
“Can’t wait.”, Remus gave another thumbs up, “Considering three gays were working on the interior design, it should have turned out well.”  
“True.”, Roman agreed in a serious manner while unlocking the door.  
“... You know I was joking, right?”, Remus pointed out, “You guys are way too clean for my taste. I bet my room is all tidy too.”  
“Yeah, I leave the chaos to you, Duke Destruction.”  
“Thanks for the alliterative regards! I love being given two d’s at once!”  
Roman stopped for a second and shot his brother a glare.  
“How are we related?”, he asked, before immediately regretting that question, “Actually, don’t tell me.”  
He knew Remus would make some sort of strange comment to that.  
“Let’s get inside already, I’m hungry as fuck.”, Remus rushed his brother.  
“Mom left us money for pizza.”, Roman said as he opened the door, letting his brother in first.  
“For r-“  
“However-!”, Roman interrupted Remus’s excited cheer, “She also said you’re not allowed to have extra bacon, extra cheese and there need to be at least two vegetables on it.”  
Remus inhaled, about to ask another question.  
“No, tomato sauce does not count as a vegetable.”, as if Roman read his twins mind.  
“Damn it.”, Remus muttered.  
“Think about what you want while you take a look around.”, Roman closed the door behind him.  
Remus kicked off his badly torn sneakers and carelessly threw his backpack next to them.  
The first thing he encountered when he entered the living room was the dinner table. It had a pompous chandelier hanging over it. Six chairs were neatly placed around the rectangle table, despite only four people living in this household. Behind the dinner table were the stairs that led upstairs to the bedrooms, most likely. Remus glanced over to his right, spotting the sofa. It stood near a fire place, which was a first.

_We never had a fire place before._   
_... They should absolutely not let me near that thing, hehe._

The coffee table was decorated with a potted plant in the middle and some random magazines around it. Past the coffee table stood the TV, connected to various other devices, like gaming consoles and DVD players.  
To the left of the sofa was an half open kitchen. It was separated with half-walls, and an open doorway.

_Fancy._

“Yeah, I’ll check the bedrooms later.”, Remus thought out loud.  
“You ready to order then?”, Roman grabbed his phone.  
“Sure.”

While the pizza took its sweet time to head to the Kingleys house, Remus decided to check out the smaller details of his new home.  
“What’s up with all the damn plants?”, he wondered.  
Roman sat on the sofa, enjoying some romance movie.  
“...”, he hesitated to give an answer, “They were Maria’s idea.”  
“Don’t expect me to take care of them then.”, Remus spat.

_Wait, shit, no, I’m trying not to be such a bitch about this._

“I didn’t expect you to.”, Roman commented.  
“Hey, I can take care of thi-“, right when Remus said that, he remembered he had a pet to greet, “WAIT, OCTO!”  
He ran up the stairs, only to come back down again.  
“Where’s my room?”, he asked.  
“Second door to the right.”  
“Thanks. OCTO, DADDY’S HOME!”  
As he ran back upstairs again, he noticed a lot of pictures hanging in the hallway.  
“...”, silently, Remus walked up to one of them. It was the wedding photo of his parents. Mom and dad that was. He took the photo off the wall, holding it with both hands.  
“Huh...”, escaped the teens mouth.  
Remus lifted his head and checked out the other pictures. There was one of him and Roman when they were still toddlers. They looked exactly the same, except for the different colored shirts. Remus’s was green while Roman got red. Those two colors ended up being each twins favorites.  
When Remus turned around, he saw another wedding photo. This time of his mom and Maria.  
Usually, when he looked at that photo, he felt anger. Back in their old home, the second wedding photo used to stand in the spot where the first had been prior.  
However, this time was different.  
Both photos were present.  
One didn’t replace the other. For once.  
He wasn’t angry. At all.  
Remus hung the picture back, taking another good look at his fathers face.  
“God, I miss you so fucking much...”, the twin whispered, “Why did you have to leave me... us...?”  
Remus shook his head.  
“I need to say hi to Octo, otherwise he’ll be mad at me.”  
He went to the second door on the right, making a swift entrance.  
“Holy fuck.”, he said disgusted as he looked at his room, “This is a fucking dream, ew.”  
Remus was the nightmare kind of guy after all.  
“At least they painted the walls green, like I wanted to.”, he looked around, “And they used the black out curtains for the window.”  
The furniture had been the same he had before. It just stood in differently, his king sized bed taking up the most space.  
“That’s too neat.”, he walked towards his bed, grabbed the blanket and threw it around, until it was the right amount of messy.  
“That’s better.”  
He then looked over to his left. That’s where his family decided to put Octo’s tank.  
“Hey baby!”, Remus greeted with a high pitched voice, as he walked towards the tiny octopus. He bent down to have a better view of the tank, and the animal inside of it.  
“Did you miss me?”, he babied the aquatic animal, “I’m sure you did, you and I are the only cool ones here.”  
“I pretend I did not hear that.”, a voice interrupted the one sided sweet moment between the human father and the octopus son.  
“Pretend all you want, Romano, it’s the truth.”, Remus instantly teased his brother as he stood straight again.  
“By the way, your posters and other... trinkets are in boxes under your bed.”, Roman pointed at the bed.  
“You saw my collection, didn’t you?”, Remus raised an eyebrow, smirking.  
“I wish I didn’t.”, Roman scoffed, “Be glad I was the one who took care of your stuff.”  
The cleaner twin made his way towards Remus, grabbing one of his shoulders.  
“Please promise me not to go out with adults anymore.”, he asked.  
“That’s putting “getting fucked” a little lightly.”, Remus countered, “But yeah, don’t worry. I’m actually trying to stay in my age range for once. If Logan wasn’t so horny for Patton, I’d start with him, not gonna lie.”  
“I’m glad to hear that.”, Roman smiled, “And who knows, maybe our new high school has a potential crush for you to offer.”  
“You’re gonna get back at me, don’t’cha?”  
“Oh, absolutely.” Roman promised. Suddenly, it made click in his head.  
“Wait, backtrack a little, what did you say about Logan and Patton?”, he asked.  
“Logan has a big fat gay crush on his childhood friend.”, Remus elaborated, “And I was the one who knew first!”  
“My god...”, Roman mumbled before breaking into full cheer mode, “This is perfect!”  
“What, how come?”, Remus questioned.  
“You see....”

_“How long have you and Logan been friends for?”, Roman asked Patton._   
_The two of them sat on the porch of Patton’s home, enjoying some self made cake and tea._   
_“Like, forever, pretty much.”, Patton replied, taking a bite from his cake, “We first met in kindergarten.”_   
_“That sure sounds like forever, heh.”, Roman sipped from his tea._   
_“Yeah!” And I’m so fortunate to be friends with him!”, the smaller teen exclaimed bubbly, “He’s so smart, he constantly helps me with homework and all. I can’t imagine a life without him, I hope to stay with him forever.”_   
_“Sounds like you want to marry him or something.”, Roman pointed out._   
_“Hmmm.”, Patton started to play with his fingers, not paying too much attention to the fork he’s been holding, a small tint of red creeping up his face, “If I could I would...”_   
_“Huh?”, Roman didn’t think he hit bullseye with his not so serious note._   
_“I dunno, it’s just-!”, Patton babbled nervously, “He’s so cool, and smart, and pretty, and great; he’s the reason I realized that I liked men too. Or just him, I dunno. I’m still confused about that part of myself, heh.”_   
_Roman leaned back in his chair as he listened to Patton’s adorable ramble._   
_“You must be missing him a lot right now then.”, he then noted._   
_“I dooooo.”, Patton moaned as sunk his head._   
_“Well, I guess someone here needs some matchmaking help once a certain nerd has made it back home.”, Roman smiled teasingly._   
_“Oh boy...”, Patton smiled back, sheepishly._

“That does sound perfect.”, Remus nodded in agreement.  
“Seems like I don’t have to do matchmaking work after all.”, Roman sighed, “Unless...”, he glanced at his brother teasingly,  
“No.”, Remus got the implication, “I will be your sleep paralysis demon if you even dare to try and couple me with some dude.”  
“I’ll take that risk.”, Roman laughed.  
“Really?”, Remus asked, ominously.  
“Whatever, Count Stinkula.”, Roman waved it off, “By the way, I still have your phone and your keys, they’re in my room.”  
“Oh yeah, I told nerdy Wolverine to text me once he has his phone.”, Remus left his room to get his belongings. He quickly came back though.  
“Where’s your room?”  
“On the opposite side.”  
“Ah.”  
Roman decided to follow Remus, just in case.  
The moment Remus opened the door to his brothers room, he theatrically gagged.  
“Oh shut it, you.”, Roman groaned.  
“Your room is disgustingly cute.”, Remus commented, “And I hate it.”  
“That’s why it’s my room, and not yours.”, Roman emphasized, “Now get outta my way so that I can grab your stuff.”  
Remus took a step aside and let Roman find his phone and keys for him. Turns out, they were in the first drawer of Romans desk.  
“Here you go.”, the twin handed the items over.  
“Neat.”, Remus said, storing the one key needed for the house in his pants pocket, while turning his phone on. Despite having been turned off for the majority of summer, it still had enough battery life left for Remus to check his missed messages.  
“Damn...”, Remus exclaimed quietly.  
“What?”, Roman raised an eyebrow.  
“I got some spicy messages...”, Remus filled in, “... I should get a new number.”  
“Definitely.”  
“Some of my previous flicks wanna hook up again.”  
“Aren’t they aware that that’s actually illegal?”, Roman wondered concerned. More for Remus than any of the dudes.  
“That’s what gives them the thrill.”, Remus shrugged it off.  
He furrowed his eyebrows at the messages he’d gotten.  
For the first time, he actually felt sick to his stomach.  
“Yeah, I’m gonna burn this entire phone.”, he concluded.  
“You’re not really going to-“, Roman started but was interrupted by Remus leaving, “- wait, hold up!”  
Remus made his way downstairs, to the fire place in the living room.  
“Hold up!”, Roman ran after him, “You can just delete everything, right?”  
“Nah.”, Remus threw his phone on the ground, breaking it instantly, “Sending it to hell sounds much more fun.”, he the gave it a good kick in the fire place, “Haha, goal!”  
“... Well, it’s too late now.”, Roman ran his hand through his hair.

“Hm.”, Logan, who sat on Patton’s bed, checked his phone again.  
“Still no reply?”, Patton asked.  
“Yes.”, the taller boy put his phone away, “Strange.”  
“He’ll reply soon enou-“, a ringing tone interrupted Patton. It was his phone. He picked it up from his desk and checked it.  
“A message from Roman.”, he thought out loud, “... Oh.”  
“What’s the matter?”, Logan wondered.  
“Well, Roman told me that Remus is currently trying to burn his phone in their fire place....”  
“...”  
“And he would like to know how to know how to safely make a fire.”  
“...”,, Logan blinked multiple times, “Y-you can’t burn a phone.”  
“Actually, now that I think about it, it might be Remus texting me with Romans phone.”  
“Call him.”, Logan said, “Before we have to call the fire department.”

After a quick call, the crisis had been averted. No fire, but the phone was still broken beyond repair.  
“I didn’t think Remus would go that far.”, Patton pondered. He had laid down on his bed, on the foot end to be precise. His legs were dangling off the edge.  
Logan sat next to him, with proper posture. He glanced to the countless plushies Patton had residing on his bed. Frogger instantly caught the nerds eyes.  
“You know, Frogger helped me a lot during these few weeks.”, he said.  
“He did?”, Patton turned his head to get a better look at his childhood friend, “I’m glad! Maybe now you understand why I’m so obsessed with plushies, hehe.”

_Adorable._

“Y-yes.”, Logan cleared his throat, trying to keep his nerves calm, “Although I still think the amount is tad over the top.”  
“Well, that’s your opinion.”, Patton teased while sitting back up again.

_Kiss him._

“What...?”, Logan whispered to himself.  
“Hm?”, Patton noticed, “Did you say something?”  
“Nothing... of importance.”, Logan nervously adjusted his glasses.  
He tried looking in a different direction, however Patton’s sky blue eyes seemed to have a magnetic charm to them. Logan couldn’t get his gaze off of them.  
Patton seemed to have felt the same. Logan’s deep sapphire blue eyes were mesmerizing.  
Both of them slowly inched closer...  
... until a knock at the door interrupted them.  
The teens jumped reflexively.  
“Y-yes?”, Patton stuttered, allowing the intruder to come in. It was his mother Catherine.  
“Logan, sweetheart, you may wanna come downstairs...”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of confrontations between sons and parents.  
> One ends not so ideal.  
> The other one does.
> 
> Trigger warnings: f-slur use, mention of self harm and scars, mention of s*icide attempt, mentions of death

Logan never expected to see their faces when he entered the living room.  
Patton followed him, just for mental and emotional support.  
“Ah.”, he repressed his rage, for now, “Susan and Austin.”  
“Glad to see you finally returned from your little psycho trip.”, Austin commented cruelly, waving a stack of papers in his hand. Those were bills from the hospital.  
“I sure hope this was conversion therapy.”, Susan threw in harshly.  
“No.”, Logan stated, expression blank.  
“Oh, so you run away from home, go get some fancy therapy and expect us to pay for it?”, Susan scolded, “Do you only see us as ATMs?!”  
“Falsehood.”, Logan stated, “If I remember correctly, and for a fact, I do, you were the ones who kicked me out. And yes, I expect you to pay for it. Or do you want me to get child protective services involved?”  
“You-“, Austin was about to come at his son, but Mathew held him back.  
“Don’t you dare.”, Patton’s father muttered aggressively.  
“You two are smart people.”, Logan pointed out, “You know that getting child protective services involved would stain your picture perfect image. Let me guess, you got the promotion you wanted? What if it came to light that your, oh, so perfect child was a, and let me put that on terms you’d possibly use, “little suicidal psychopathic faggot”, huh?”  
The two adults remained quiet.  
“Pay for the bills, and my mouth will stay shut.”  
“You can’t do that, you little shit.”, Susan growled, “We will absolutely get the lawyer involved.”  
Logan closed his eyes.  
“Okay, listen here _bitch_ -“, he finally snapped, “Who do you think they would believe more? Two insolent, neglecting, entitled parents, or-“, Logan pulled his right sleeve up aggressively, making the button pop off, “- a harmed homeless minor, with a medical record of several mental illnesses and trauma?“  
Once again, the parents stayed quiet as they stared in shock at Logan’s arm. It didn’t have any bandages anymore, so the scars were out in the open for everyone to see.  
“You never wanted to see my face again, huh?”, the teen reminded his parents again, “Then why _the fuck_ are you here?”  
“You two better leave now.”, Mathew warned carefully.  
“Y-yes.”, Susan and Austin nodded in agreement, accepting their defeat. They never expected Logan to finally speak out against them, that’s how shocked they were. Once the two adults were out the door, Logan dropped to his knees.  
He let out a frustrated scream before breaking down into tears.  
“Logan!”, Patton ran up to his best friend, also falling to his knees.  
Logan was full on breaking down, hugging himself. He fell over onto Patton’s lap, crying his soul out.

When he woke up again, Logan found himself in his bed.  
Frogger was staring back at him.  
He remembered what had happened. He instantly checked his arm; however well you can check anything with impaired vision in a dark room; for new cuts. Luckily, he didn’t feel a bandage nor any band aids. Only the slight bumps his self harm had caused.  
Not a beautiful thing to feel, but he was glad those were old scars.  
Logan took a deep breath.  
“Okay.”, he whispered to himself, “I’m okay. I’m safe. Crying isn’t weak.”  
He noticed, that he had been wearing his daily wear, instead of his sleep wear, which usually consisted of a simple black t shirt and some blue pyjama pants.  
He got up and tried to find his phone. He hoped it would reside on the bedside table.  
And lucky him, someone was gracious enough to place it there, alongside his glasses. He put the seeing aids on and turned the flash on his phone on.  
“Better.”, the teen thought out loud. He walked up to his closed to get a set of sleeping clothes. When Logan opened the door, the white owl cardigan flashed him first.  
“... I possibly could wear that as well.”, he pointed out to himself.

After getting changed, owl cardigan included, Logan decided to get some water.  
He had been quite thirsty.  
Before entering the kitchen, he already heard the quiet humming of the microwave, and some popping noises, presumably coming from popcorn.  
When he peeked his head around the corner, he saw a small figure, wearing a frog onesie, waiting in front of the kitchen device.  
“Why aren’t you in bed?”, Logan asked, which made the frog boy jump. The latter turned his head, revealing that it had been Patton.  
“Heya Logan.”, he smiled weakly, “I couldn’t sleep so I decided to do a Disney marathon.”  
“Eating popcorn this late isn’t good for your health.”, Logan reminded his friend as he entered the kitchen to get his water.  
“I know.”, Patton turned back around, “But it’s not like I’m doing that every night.”  
“Indeed.”, Logan agreed. He got a cup from the cupboard and filled it with tap water.  
“We also have mineral water, if you want.”, Patton pointed at the fridge.  
“Thank you, but I am okay with just tap water.”, Logan denied his offer.  
He filled his glass half full and drank it in one go. He really needed that.  
“How... are you doing?”, Patton asked carefully, playing with the hem of his sleeves.  
“Better now.”, Logan replied while washing his glass, “I never expected them to show up. They clearly said they never wanted to see my face. Then again, they probably didn’t think they’d end up with a medical bill of however much.”  
“Yeah, therapy is not the cheapest thing, sadly.”, Patton sighed.  
“Is there a chance you were in the hospital around our 14th birthday?”, Logan wondered, “That was the first birthday ever since we met we didn’t spend together.”  
“Mhm.”, Patton nodded, “I still feel bad for lying to you, but I was too scared to tell you the truth.”  
The microwave pinged, indicating that the popcorn was done. Patton carefully got the bowl out of the device and opened the lid. The smell of sweet popcorn instantly filled the room.  
“I was never content with myself.”, he explained, unprovoked, as if he knew Logan was about to ask, “I still struggle with myself a lot. To be honest with you, I.... don’t really like myself.”  
“What- Patton-“, Logan wanted to hug his smaller friend.  
“Whenever I find a good thing about myself, my self esteem points out a different flaw and engulfs on that.”, Patton placed the bowl on the counter, “I’m chubby, I have stretch marks and freckles all over me, my teeth are crooked and yellow.... I think my smile is my least favorite thing about myself. Not only that, I also always feel like an outcast, too childish, too friendly, too... naive.”  
“...”, Logan was close to tears. Hearing Patton talking down on himself stung. All he wanted to do was hug and comfort his best friend, even though he wasn’t too sure on how to do that properly.  
“With all that and a lot of other conflicting feelings I... just wanted to leave...”, Patton finally admitted, “I didn’t harm myself for long because the first time was also my last time. I took it too far and...”  
Patton quickly wiped the currently forming tears in his eyes with his sleeves, causing his glasses to loosely and crookedly stay on his nose.  
“Patton, no-“, Logan wanted to hold Patton’s hands, but decided against it last second.  
“It’s okay now.”, Patton smiled, “I’m working on myself. I still struggle, but it’s getting better. Slowly.”  
“Patton.”, Logan clenched his chest, “I can tell you, for a fact, that all of your body features you just mentioned are beautiful.”  
“Huh?”, Patton’s eyes lit up, “You... never called me beautiful before.”  
“...”, Logan knew.  
He knew he never called Patton beautiful before.  
Even though there where many instances where he wanted to.  
That may have been an indicator that Logan had deeper feelings than just platonic for Patton.  
“I know.”, he admitted.  
“.... You really think that?”, Patton asked, to make sure he wasn’t delusional.  
“Yes.”, Logan nodded, “I can’t tell you what it is, but your smile makes my heart race. So does the warmth of your body whenever you hug me, and your joyful giggles whenever you try to cheer me up. I don’t feel lonely when I’m with you.”  
“I’m-“, Patton was speechless. His face turned beet red, excitement filled his heart. He covered his mouth to keep his squeal as quiet as possible.  
His excitement disappeared as quickly as it came though.  
“You’re...”, he dropped his hands, looking at Logan through his lashes, “You’re not lying to me, right?”  
“I have no reason to.”, Logan smiled lightly at his childhood friend.  
In a burst of happiness, Patton charged himself forward, face first into Logan’s chest, hugging the taller teen tightly.  
Logan didn’t expect the surprise hug, noticeable by his little gasp he let out the moment Pattons forehead came into contact with him. However, that small shock subsided quickly as Logan hugged Patton back, resting his chin on top of his head.  
“I really like you, Logan.”, Patton finally confessed, “I’ve had for a while, but I was too much of a coward to tell you.”  
“What does it feel like to like someone?”, Logan asked.  
Not quite the response Patton hoped for, nor expected, but at least he hadn’t been right out rejected. He looked up at Logan, without breaking the hug.  
“It’s kinda like, hm...”, he tried to find the right words, “You feel butterflies in your stomach whenever you’re with that person!”  
“That sounds unhealthy.”, Logan took the metaphor a bit too literal, and Patton knew that.  
“Not literally!”, he chuckled, “It’s just a nice, fuzzy feeling. Uh, man words are hard, like, your heart starts racing and you wanna spent your time with the other as much as you can, kinda like you said... earlier...”, Patton placed his head back onto Logan’s chest. He felt Logan’s fast heart rate.  
“I guess, I like you too then.”, Logan mumbled, still unsure of his emotions, “I do have a favor to ask.”, he then said in a normal speaking voice.  
“Yeah?”, Patton, once again, glanced up to the taller teen.  
“I assume, considering the feelings are mutual, the next logical step would be to engage in a relationship.”, he concluded.  
Patton nodded.  
“However, I would like to wait a little before we do that.”  
Patton gave Logan a confused look.  
“Not that I don’t want to be your partner, I do, but I don’t think I have the mental stability for that yet. I was just released from the hospital.”, Logan explained, hoping it didn’t hurt Patton’s feelings too much.  
“Oh, that makes sense.”, the freckled boy realized, “That’s fine by me, I waited this long, I can wait a little longer.”, he smiled genuinely, “Just let me know whenever you’re ready.”  
“Thank you.”, Logan nodded relieved.  
“No problemo!”, Patton cheered, breaking the hug, “Plus, if that’s not too much for you, I can help you figure things out.”  
“That’s what I was hoping for, actually.”, Logan noted, “But let’s take care of that at a more humane time.”  
“You wanna join me on some Disney then?”, Patton grabbed the now cooled off popcorn.  
“Of course.”, Logan agreed.

Sunday morning.  
Remus woke up, stretching his body, letting out a groan.  
“What time is it?”, felt around his bed, trying to find his phone. Until he remembered.  
“Right. I sent that shit to hell.” , he mumbled. It was a miracle he had forgotten, his mother was scolding him for half an hour about how they had to get a new phone for him. After letting out a huge yawn, he got up and made his way to his octopus tank.  
“Good morning, baby.”, he greeted his pet while turning the lights on. Octo instantly came out of his little cave.  
“You hungry?”, Remus opened the top drawer of the shelf and grabbed some octopus food.  
Remus enjoyed taking care of Octo. Even though he could never grab, play with or pet him like a basic pet, he liked the little movements the aquatic animal did. They were calming to him. He also enjoyed how freaky octopi were. With their eight arms and squishy bodies.  
The teen opened the tank and threw some food inside.  
“There you go you funky little dude.”, he smiled, “Seems like the others fed you well while I was gone.”  
As if it had been on command, Remus’s stomach grumbled.  
“Well, time for daddy to get some grub too. See ya later!”, he waved at Octo.  
Before he left his room however, Remus quickly threw on a random shirt and shorts. He usually slept in his underwear only. He was annoyed by the fact he hadn’t been allowed to do that in the hospital.  
But he was not in the hospital anymore.  
Skipping on brushing his teeth, he can do that after breakfast, he went downstairs.  
“Hey, you’re up early!”, Roman, who sat at the dinner table enjoying some breakfast, pointed out.  
“What time is it?”, Remus scratched his head while taking a seat next to his twin.  
“Like 9 am.”, Roman replied.  
“Oh, ew.”, Remus stuck his tongue out in disgust.  
“Good Morning, Remus!”, a female voice from the kitchen cheered.  
Remus turned his head and saw his mom Anne smiling at him, while preparing breakfast.  
“Mornin’ mom.”, Remus smiled back tiredly.  
“We’re making pancakes, you want some?”, she asked sweetly, “You can’t put your usual syrup and butter on it though, too unhealthy.”  
“Y’all just wanna see me suffer huh?”, Remus whined jokingly.  
“Hey, pancakes with yogurt, honey and raspberries is actually quite nice.”, Roman said, indirectly suggesting that combo to his brother.  
“You know what? I’m in a good mood today, I’m gonna listen to ya for once.”, Remus turned his attention back to his mom, “I take what he just uttered.”  
“Coming right up!”, Anne gave a thumbs up before turning away to cook the order.  
While the twins waited for their food, their step mother Maria made her way over, placing a glass of orange juice in front of Roman, and a glass of water in front of Remus.  
“I’m glad to see you back at the table.”, she smiled at the latter. He avoided eye contact.  
“Cool.”, Remus replied, a bit too snarky.  
Maria had been used to that. At least it hadn’t been an insult this time.  
“Don’t forget to take your meds.”, she then placed a few pills next to the glass of water.  
“Thanks or whatever...”, Remus muttered.  
“O-oh.”, the step-parent gasped, Remus had never thanked Maria for anything before without being forced to, “No problem, Remus. I’ll be back in the kitchen.”  
“Did you just thank her?”, Roman asked quietly once Maria was out of earshot.  
“Yeah?”, Remus picked up his pills and popped them in his mouth, “Wanna give me a medal for that?”, he then asked before chugging down his water in a few gulps. He burped loudly once he was done.  
“Yeah, I didn’t miss that, hehe.”, Roman chuckled.  
Usually Remus would counter with a dumb or witty (or dumb and witty) remark, but he remained quiet this time.  
“Hey, are you okay?”, Roman caught onto Remus’s atypical behavior.  
“Yeah, just hungry.”, Remus shrugged.  
“That can’t be all.”, Roman pointed out, “And you know that.”  
“Whatever, Pillowprince.”, Remus rolled his eyes.  
“Breakfast is ready!”, Anne cheered, carrying two plates with pancakes to the dinner table, placing them in front of her sons. She then took a seat across Roman.  
Maria had the food for herself and her wife. She put one in front of Anne, and the other at the seat furthest from Remus.  
“Maria.”, he called out to her before she was able to take a seat. To a surprise to everyone.  
“Yes?”, she asked confused.  
“You can like...”, Remus gestured at the chair in front of him, “Sit there.”  
“You want me to sit in front of you?”, Maria raised an eyebrow, “That’s... new.”  
“Just do it before I change my mind!”, Remus snapped, but instantly regretted it. He tried. At least.  
Maria took up on the offer and down next to her wife, in front of Remus.  
“Remus, sweetie, is there anything on your mind right now?”, Anne asked. She was mainly confused by how kind Remus seemed to be towards his step-mom. Well, kinder than usual.  
“...” Remus grabbed his fork, that had been residing on the plate, and poked his food.  
He tried to find the right words to start this whole conversation.  
“I noticed you put the wedding photo with dad up again.”, he then decided to say.  
“True.”, Anne nodded, “It felt wrong keeping it in a box. And now, that we have the space for it-“  
“Don’t lie.”, Remus interrupted his mother’s ramble, “You didn’t put it away because we didn’t have enough space in the old place. There was plenty.”  
“Uh...”  
“You wanted to forget about him, didn’t you?”, Remus glared at his mom.  
Anne started to nervously play with her fork.  
“Remus, what has gotten into you?”, Roman decided to break his silence and join the conversation.  
“I just- UGGGHHH-“, Remus groaned loudly in frustration, “For fucks sake, I don’t know how to, like, talk about this.”  
“About what?”, Anne asked confused.  
“We never really talked about how we all felt about dad leaving and Maria joining!”, Remus cut to the point, “Obviously it isn’t all too cool for me, but I have no idea what your stance is on that.”, he pointed at Anne and Roman.  
“We-...”, Roman stuttered, “We miss him. Obviously.”  
“But you guys seemed to have desperately wanted to forget about him and replace him with Maria.”, Remus explained, “Whenever I expressed my feelings, you guys were the ones to shut me down and force me to just forget what happened! Pretend that everything is fine and dandy!”  
“We never wanted you to do that.”, Maria countered.  
“But it sure as hell felt like that!”, the first tears were rolling down his cheeks, “You guys don’t understand how fucking lonely I feel! You’re always against me! As if my grief isn’t valid! You don’t know how much it fucking destroys me whenever I dream of dad’s death! I just-“, Remus banged his fists on the table, “I just miss being loved...”, he whimpered, “Dad was the only one who truly loved me...”  
“Remus, that’s not true!”, Roman tried to calm his brother down by giving him a side hug, but Remus slapped Romans arm away before he was able to come any closer.  
“You’re doing it again!”, Remus scolded his brother, “You’re telling me that my shit isn’t valid!”  
“Remus, sweetie...”, Anne tried getting her sons attention back.  
“What?”, he sniffed.  
“We’re sorry we made you feel like your emotions weren’t valid.”, the mother apologized, “I was trying so hard for us to get along and work things out, especially between you and Maria, that I completely forgot how hard your fathers death really hit you. I forgot, that you possibly needed more time to move on than me and Roman.”, Anne took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, “I promise you, I did not forget about Romulus. I could never. He will forever hold a special place in my heart, but he would have wanted me to find new love. Which I did.”  
“I really don’t want to replace your dad.”, Maria chimed in, “I swear. I’m just trying to be a good parent.”  
“Why?”, Remus wiped his nose with his arm, “You probably hate me the most.”  
“I don’t.”, Maria shook her head, “I love you, Remus, I really do. You and Roman are the best sons I could have hoped for.”  
“Pah, sure.”, Remus scoffed through his hoarse voice, “I got you guys into so much trouble, and almost died on you twice.”  
“That doesn’t mean you’re a bad son.”, Maria comforted, “I fully understand why you behave the way you do towards me. But that won’t stop me from trying to be a good mother to the both of you.”  
“But... why?”, Remus sunk his head, “I treat you like shit all the time.”  
“Like I said, you’re my son.”, Maria said softly, “I want to be there for you as good as I can. I never asked you to give me a chance, I want that choice to be all yours.”

Remus had been staring at Octo for hours now. He had grabbed his desk chair and placed it in front of the tank.  
He was glad that he finally had some closure with his parents.  
The only one who was still on his list had been Roman.  
He even was considering giving Maria a chance. Being less of a dick to her. But he couldn’t make any promises.  
“Look at you, all wobbly ‘n’ shit.”, he giggled at Octo.  
The alone time was interrupted by a knock at Remus’s door.  
“What?”, he yelled.  
The door opened a little, making enough room for Roman to peek his head in.  
“Are you still mad?”, he asked, like a childish little brother.  
“I wasn’t mad.”, Remus debunked, “Not intentionally at least.”  
“Cool, that means we can talk.”, Roman let himself in his brother room, closing the door behind him. Before cutting to the chase, he looked around the room. Which had been a huge mess. Already.  
“How-?”, Roman breathed confused, “You never fail to fascinate me.”  
“You know how much I hate order.”, Remus uttered. He brought his focus back to Octo.  
“True.”, Roman sat down on Remus’s bed.  
“So, whaddya want, Princey?”, Remus asked.  
“Right, yeah.”, Roman sighed, “I wanted to talk about what happened earlier at the dinner table.”  
“Then talk.”, Remus commanded.  
“I’m sorry.”, Roman instantly apologized, “In this whole ordeal, I took moms side, without fully understanding neither you nor her. I just wanted to return to the happy family picture we have had before.”  
“That won’t happen.”, Remus spun around on his chair, facing his twin, “It will never be the same without dad. Not to mention the fucked up headspace I‘ve put myself in over the past few years.”  
“I know that.”, Roman folded his hands and let them rest on his lap, avoiding eye contact, “I know things will never feel the same, no matter how much I wish for it.”  
“Huh?”, Remus raised an eyebrow.  
“I miss dad too, you know?”, Roman finally looked at his brother, “But I know he’s gone and he won’t come back. And things will feel different forever. But... that’s not a bad thing.”  
“...”, Remus didn’t really know how to reply to that.  
“I love Maria. She’s a great mom.”, Roman smiled, “And she really cares about you too. She was the one who kept reminding me to feed Octo.”  
“She... was?”, Remus questioned.  
“Yeah.”, his brother nodded, “She also has your full medication and diet plan memorized. She really wants the best for you. For all of us. But it’s just... not the same. And it never will be. Maria isn’t Romulus.”

_He understands...?_

“I promise I won’t push you to trying to give Maria a chance.”, Roman held up a hand, “You need your own time to process everything. I can only imagine what you must have gone through.”  
“I mean, you saw what that did to me, so.”, Remus leaned back in his chair.  
“But I will never know how you felt through all this.”, Roman scratched his neck, “I’ll try to understand you though.”  
“Ditto.”, Remus turned back around, checking on Octo again, “You’re my smelly brother after all.”  
“Hey, you’re the smelly one!”, Roman shot up from the bed.  
“At least I’m all natural.”, Remus said in an ominous voice, “You smell like a damn perfume shop after a kid tested every bottle in there.”  
“Pah!”, Roman over-comedically spat, “I do not!”  
“Hey, I’m glad Octo doesn’t have a nose, otherwise he’d be dead in my tank from all that flowery bullshit coming from your ass.”  
“That’s it!”, Roman exclaimed, still joking, “I’m leaving!”  
“You know where the door is, heh.”, Remus pointed at his room door.  
Roman made his way towards the door, but before leaving, he turned around one more time.  
“Glad to see you can crack jokes again.”, he smiled.  
“You pretend like you really don’t smell like a perfume shop.”, Remus glanced at his brother with a grin.  
“I pretend I did not hear that.”  
“You do that quite a lot.”  
“Well, you talk a lot, so.”  
The twins both laughed at their banter.  
“By the way, you haven’t checked out your boxes yet, right?”, Roman noticed that Remus hadn’t hung up any poster yet.  
“Yeah, I didn’t feel like doing that. Why?”, Remus questioned.  
“I may or may not have put a few extra things in there.”, Roman opened the door, “You’re gonna love them, I’m sure of it.”  
“Is it a codpiece?!”, Remus’s eyes lit up.  
“I-... don’t even know what that is?”, Roman furrowed his eyebrows confused, “And quite frankly, I don’t want to know what it is.”  
“Aw, sad.”, Remus pouted, sinking down in his chair.  
“Well, I’ll leave you be then. If you need something, you know where to find me.”, with that, Roman left his twin alone.  
Once Remus heard the door on the other side shut, he got up from his seat and checked out his boxes he had yet to unpack.  
He kneeled down in front of his bed and pulled out the first box, which had been labeled “Posters (and the not so freaky stuff) (why are you like this?) (<3)”.  
“Wow, that’s cheesy.”, Remus thought out loud, “But like, the good, non moldy kind.”  
He opened the box...  
... and immediately wanted to sob.  
The first thing he encountered was a vinyl record. His fathers favorite vinyl record to be precise.  
He never liked his dads taste in music. But he endured it nonetheless back when the old man listened to it over and over again.  
There were a few more underneath. All old rock classics, too boring for Remus’s high energetic taste. But he’d still cherish those vinyls forever.  
He carefully placed them on top of his bed before continuing his rummaging.  
The next item he found was an old button up shirt, which also belonged to Romulus.  
It had a green and black gingham pattern all over.  
Remus took a moment to hug the shirt and take the scent in.  
“Hm...”, he pulled away, “Still smells like him. Or maybe that just the memory fucking with me.”  
Instead of putting that aside, Remus put the shirt on, however he didn’t bother buttoning it up.  
“Yeah I’m gonna wear this to school tomorrow.”  
The teen spent the rest of the day decorating his room, using the vinyls are wall decor as well.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day of school! Finally!
> 
> The following trigger warnings apply: f-slur and t-slur use, bullying, transphobia and homophobia, misgendering

Patton and Logan, tired as ever, considering they had a second Disney movie marathon the night prior, waited outside the school building. Patton, once again, hadn’t been able to properly sleep, and convinced Logan for a round two.  
“I really hope they’ll end up at our school.”, Patton mumbled.  
“It would make no sense if they wouldn’t.”, Logan reassured him.  
They waited near the entrance, checking out every car that came by.  
A bright red cab caught their attention.  
One teen jumped out of the back, while the other opened the door like any normal person would.  
“There they areeee!”, Patton squealed happily, jumping up and down, “Hey guys!”, he waved at the newcomers, that were currently on their way towards the entrance.  
“Good Morning Roman, Remus.”, Logan greeted calmly.  
“Whaddup, dorks?”, Remus lazily threw up a peace sign. He seemed to have gotten taller over night.  
Mainly because he had been wearing neon green platform boots. Combined with badly torn black baggy jeans held up by a black belt with chains, a similarly torn purple tank top, and his dads green button up. On top of that, Remus decided to wear heavy purple make up around his eyes, making the red and green of his irises pop much more. Added to that, he wore some leather chokers around his neck, decorated with spikes, studs and small chains.  
“Good beautiful morning guys!”, Roman greeted with a lot more enthusiasm.  
He sported the same jeans-sport jacket combo he had worn when he first met Patton.  
“Dude, you wear fucking ties?!”, Remus pointed at Logan, “How old are you? 35?”  
“I like ties.”, Logan fixed his blue tie, “I wasn’t allowed to have them at the hospital, otherwise you’d have seen me wearing those daily.”  
“Holy fuck.”, Remus fascination surprised Logan, considering how extra Remus had looked. He didn’t think a simple tie would catch the twin so off guard.  
“Well, and you look as squishy as ever.”, he then focused on Patton.  
The smallest of the bunch decided to wear his favorite good luck cat hoodie for the first day of school. It even had a pouch for a real cat to be put in. Or a small dog, if you were allergic.  
“Speaking of squishy, Octo really loves the plush you gave me.”, Remus told Patton.  
His eyes lit up.  
“Really?!”, Patton grinned.  
“Yeah!”, Remus smiled back, “I showed it to him and he thought he had a mate to mate with, heh.”  
“O-oh.”, Patton’s excitement subsided a little.  
“Like father like son..?”, Roman joked.  
“I’m really proud.”, Remus pretended to wipe away a happy tear.  
“Alright then, let’s show you around before the first class starts!”, Patton suggested with a clap, “Do you have your schedules yet?”  
“Nope.”, Remus said, emphasizing the p.  
“We have to see the headmaster first anyway.”, Roman added, “But I’m sure there’s time to show us around.”  
“Then let’s go!”, Patton took the lead.

The group of teen boys walked down the hallway filled with students, making their way past lockers.  
“Well, here are the lockers, obviously, heh.”, Patton explained, “There are more on the first floor.”  
“There are three stair cases leading up to the first floor.”, Logan added, “The different rooms are divided into sections. The ground floor has the library, cafeteria on the left, and the music room and assembly room on the right. The gym and fields are accessible through the cafeteria.”  
“Perfect!”, Roman cheered, “Do you guys have sports clubs?”  
“We do.”, Logan nodded, “Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, Football, there are plenty of options to choose from.”  
“We also have a lot of artsy clubs if you’re more into that.”, Patton filled in, “Theater, choir, band, literature, all the good stuff.”  
“Are you guys in clubs?”, Roman asked.  
“Yes.”, Logan confirmed, “I myself am in the Astronomy club and the general science club.”  
“I’m in the cooking and baking club!”, Patton exclaimed, “And also the book club!”  
“There seem to be a lot of fun things you can do here.”, Roman praised, “Our old high school only had the basics.”  
“Yeah, Sandersburgh Highschool makes sure that teens have every chance to discover themselves properly.”, Logan explained, “They try to cover every interest possible.”  
“Wait, before we get going, can we make a quick stop at my locker?”, Patton asked, “It’s right over there.”, he pointed to his left.  
“Of course.”, Logan smiled.  
The twins silently followed.  
When Patton opened his locker, a bunch of small trinkets fell out. It was clearly overfilled with all kinds of cutesy things.  
“You really need to get this in order.”, Logan pointed out.  
“Yeah.”, Patton picked up the small decor items that fell to the ground, “I really should.”  
While the two childhood friends were bantering about the chaos in the tiny teens locker, Roman and Remus decided to check out the crowd, to see what kind of faces were running around, and what they possibly had to deal with.  
Until two teen boys caught them off guard.  
One, almost as tall as Logan, wore a half-sleeve black turtle neck, combined with black pants and a yellow belt. The buckles on his shoes were shining as if they had been freshly polished. He had light blond hair, half his face, the left side to be precise, was covered with a birthmark that seemed to have gone down his neck and on his arm. It also seemed to have an effect on his left eye as well. While that one was light blue, almost grey, the other eye was a deep yellowish brown. From the way he walked and gestured while speaking, he seemed to have been the more eloquent type.  
His friend on the other hand, seemed to have been the exact opposite. Height close to Patton’s, posture slouched, clothes baggy. He wore an oversized purple and black jacket, hands buried in the pockets. He also wore black pants, however, those were slightly torn and had some bleached spots all over. Along with that, he wore chunky purple sneakers. His hair was dyed a bright plum, bangs covering most of his face.  
“I call dibs on the tall dude.”, Remus wasn’t able to take his eyes off of the taller boy.  
And he noticed that.  
He glared at Remus, looking him up and down.  
“What?”, he asked annoyed, stopping in front of the twin.  
“You’re really hot.”, Remus smiled.  
“Well, that was really subtle.”, Roman elbowed his brother.  
“I-“, the blond teen furrowed his eyebrows, “I don’t need to be made fun of on my first day of junior year.”  
“Janus, let’s get going.”, the purple haired teen grumbled, “Ignore them.”  
“Oh, hi Janus!”, Patton turned his head and waved.  
“Ah, Patton, good morning.”, Janus nodded, “How was your summer?”  
“Janus...!”, the teen, who had yet to introduce himself, whined.  
“One second, Virgil.”, Janus held up a finger, indicating for Virgil to practice patience.  
“Ugh.”, Virgil rolled his eyes.  
“My summer was okay, what about yours?”, Patton asked while closing his locker.  
“Splendid. We visited the family on the country side.”, Janus informed the freckled boy.  
“Aw neat!”, Patton smiled, “See you later in literature class then!”  
“Farewell.”, Janus waved, turning around, indicating he wanted to keep going.  
However, he was once again stopped in his tracks by a typical jock.  
“Whaddup burn victim!”, he screamed at Janus, pushing him with his shoulder, “Did you finally grow a dick overnight? Oh right, you can’t!”  
After collecting himself, Janus took a deep breath and ignored the name calling and insulting.  
Remus didn’t like that. At all. He grabbed the jock by his collar and yanked him backwards, making him gag.  
“You wanna say that again?”, he asked threateningly.  
“The fuck do you want?”, the jock barked.  
“For you to repeat yourself.”, Remus pulled at the collar once again, “Or does your rotting pea brain not comprehend the words that come out of my mouth, you sack of poorly packaged horse shit?”  
“Who the fuck even are you?!”, the jock yelled, slightly scared.  
“Your worst nightmare if you keep your bullshit behavior up.”, Remus growled.  
“I will fucking break your nose, dude!”, the jock yelled aggressively, trying to hit Remus in the face. However Remus was fast enough to duck, causing the other to hit the lockers with full power.  
“ARGH!”, the jock held his hand in pain, “You’re gonna pay for this, motherfucker!”, he screamed.  
“Sorry, I don’t fuck old hags like your mom, I’m too gay for that.”, Remus countered sassily.  
“Remus, stop, you’re making him more angry.”, Roman whispered.  
“Hey, if he wants to learn the hard way, I can do that.”, Remus cracked his knuckles, “I like it hard after all, hehehe.”  
“You’re- You’re fucking weird man!”, the jock ran away.  
“You know you just made things worse for me.”, Janus hissed at Remus.  
“Huh?”, Remus tilted his head in confusion.  
“It’s better to ignore these kind of things and not engage with them.”, Janus explained annoyed, “Thanks for that.”  
“Wait, I-“, before Remus was able to explain himself, Janus turned around and left the group of boys in the dust.  
“Huh.”, Remus let his shoulders hang, defeated, “Fuck.”  
“So much for a first impression, huh?”, Roman pat his brothers shoulder comfortingly.  
“I’m sure you’ll get another chance.”, Patton smiled, “Janus and Virgil prefer to stay by themselves, but they’re really nice!”  
“I hope so...”, Remus mumbled.

“Great.”, Janus huffed.  
“Are you okay?”, Virgil asked.  
“Oh, yes, I’m totally okay.”, Janus remarked sarcastically, “Who doesn’t want a random drag show popping in your life and ruin it completely within the first ten minutes?”  
“Yeah, he doesn’t give me good vibes either.”, Virgil sneered, “But he seemed honest.”  
“You really don’t think that his remark had any serious intent behind it.”, Janus raised an eyebrow at Virgil.  
“Hey, he seems like a pretty open person.”, Virgil shrugged.  
“Whatever.”, Janus crossed his arms, “I do not wish to affiliate with such a... mess.”  
“I think that’s for the best too.”, Virgil agreed, “What’s weird though is that he seems to be friends with Patton and Logan.”  
“A strange combination, for sure.”, Janus put a finger on his chin, “I’m sure they have a reason why they hang out with him.”  
“Hey, I need to use the bathroom real quick.”, Virgil pointed at the door him and Janus just passed by.  
“Of course, I’ll wait out here.”  
“Thanks.”  
With that, Virgil left the other boy alone.  
Not for too long though.  
Virgil had been dragged out again by the same jock from earlier.  
“What-?”, Janus exclaimed quietly.  
“Ah, the fag and the tranny.”, the jock grinned, “Nice to stop by again. Don’t think I’ll spare you after that freak show tried to protect your little pussy ass. And I’m gonna start with messing up your little brother here.”  
“Leave Virgil out of this, you Neanderthal.”, Janus threatened.  
“Oh what are you gonna do?”, the jock barked back, pushing Virgil up the wall, “Get your gay ass bodyguard?”  
“Hgn-“, Janus took a step back.

_I knew this would happen._  
_And no one will help two outcasts like us._

Everyone was staring and mumbling around the three teens.  
“Why are you coming after us, if it’s not us that embarrassed you earlier?”, Janus questioned.  
“Because you guys deserve to be beaten up for your existence alone.”, the aggressive student uttered, “You guys are freaks. Not only do you look like freaks, you behave like them too!”  
“Alright, I’ve heard enough!”, an adult voice echoed through the halls, “Day one and you already cause trouble!”  
“Mr. Joan-“, the jock muttered, dropping Virgil.  
“It’s Mx. Joan for you.”, the adult corrected, “I’ll call your parents immediately, and you have detention for the first four weeks.”  
“That’s-“  
“No, shush.”, the, supposedly, teacher shut the teen down, “Leave the Storm brothers alone.”  
The jock stormed off.  
“Thank you, Mx. Joan.”, Janus thanked the teacher.  
“What a great start...”, Virgil rubbed his upper arm.

The first two hours of the first school day were used for the schools assembly.  
Aside from the twins and the headmaster, every student and teacher was present in the assembly hall.  
After the assembly however, every students, including the twins this time, were free to head to their classes.  
When Janus walked into literature class, he spottet an empty seat next to Patton.  
He had a few questions he wanted answers to.  
So he sat down next to the short teen.  
“Ah, hello again, Janus!”, Patton greeted with a smile.  
“Hello, Patton.”, Janus folded his hands and placed them on the table.  
“Are you... doing okay?”, Patton asked carefully.  
“I’m fine.”, Janus lied, “I actually have a question to ask you.”  
“Sure, what’s up?”, Patton wondered what the other had wanted.  
“That boy in the green shirt.”  
“Remus.”  
“If that’s his name.”  
“It is.”  
“Okay then.”, Janus acknowledged, “Remus. Are you friends with him?”  
“Yeah, I guess so.”, Patton scratched his neck, “It happened very recently, but I’d say we’re friends.”  
“Okay.”, Janus noted, “But why?”  
“...Are you still mad because he confronted that bully?”, Patton guessed carefully.  
“No.”, another lie, “I just never expected you to be around such a person.”  
“Remus is actually not that bad!”, Patton defended the weirder one of the twins, “Yes, he’s a lot, but he’s really loyal and honest from what I’ve noticed so far! Too honest sometimes...”  
“I failed to notice.”, Janus rolled his eyes, obviously being sarcastic.  
“I just hope, that that incident won’t cause you any trouble.”, Patton smiled a little.

_Too late for that._

“I hope so too.”, Janus once again lied.

While literature was going down in one room, art class had started in a different room.  
Virgil sat in the back, headphones covering his ears. He was doodling in his notepad. He had the same art teacher as last year, Mx. Talyn, and knew that a, they didn’t mind when their students listened to music while drawing, and b, they usually ran a little late. So Virgil had some moments to himself, blocking out his classmates and the noise they caused around him.  
He had always sat alone.  
Everyone in this class knew that the table in the left back corner of the room belonged to Virgil and Virgil alone.  
Virgil didn’t even do anything to the others. They just avoided him by their own free will.  
Except for two certain teenage twins.  
Virgil quickly covered his doodles with his hand when he noticed blotches of green and red in his peripheral view.  
Roman and Remus.  
In a panic, he let his eyes scan the remaining seats. Every single one was full. So his table was the only option for the newcomers.  
He glanced up through his purple bangs, noticing that the more well kept looking twin was talking to him. Virgil removed his headphones from one ear.  
“W-What was that?“, he asked, slightly anxious.  
“We were wondering if these seats are free.”, the teen in the red jacket asked.  
“Well, yeah.”, Virgil muttered, “Obviously.”  
“Why thank you!”, Roman thanked. Both him and his more chaotic counterpart simultaneously took a seat, across from Virgil.  
“Hey you’re, like, Janus’s angsty friend!”, the chaotic twin pointed a finger at Virgil.  
“Actually, I’m his brother...”, Virgil corrected.  
“Oh, are you twins as well?”, Roman wondered, “I assume that you two are the same age.”  
“No.”, Virgil didn’t like where the conversation was going, “We’re both adopted.”  
“Ah, I see.”, Roman noted.  
“Hey, do you know if your brother likes dudes?”, Remus wondered.  
“Uh-“, Virgil looked at Remus with a slightly disgusted expression.  
“Now calm down there, Duke Uncharming.”, Roman stopped his brother from going any further, “How about we properly introduce ourselves first?”, Roman then puffed out his chest and placed a hand on it, “My name is Roman Prince Kingsley. It’s a pleasure to meet you.... Virgil, it was? I remember Janus saying your name.”  
“Yeah...”, Virgil nervously played with one of the hems of his pants holes under the table, “Virgil Storm.”  
“And I am a mess!”, Remus mockingly mimicked his brothers way of introduction.  
“Does the mess have a name?”, Virgil growled annoyed.  
“Remus Duke Kingsley.”, Remus cleared the air.  
“Ah.”, Virgil still hadn’t been too keen on the messy twin. Considering that he had been the reason the jock from earlier almost beat him and Janus up.  
“Back to my question-“, Remus wanted to redirect the topic to Janus and his preferences, however Virgil already had enough of that.  
“How about you stay away from us?”, he hissed, “And stop playing the hero?”  
“What?”, Remus furrowed his eyebrows confused.  
“Because of your little stunt earlier, that jock almost beat me and Janus up in front of the boys restroom.”, Virgil recapped angrily, “If it hadn’t been for Mx. Joan’s interference, I would have a black eye now.”  
Remus remained quiet for a second.  
“I guess he really wants it the hard way.”, he muttered.  
“I told you to stop playing the hero!”, Virgil almost yelled at the twin.  
“Oh, trust me, I’m not a hero.”, Remus countered, “I’m more like Deadpool, you know?”  
“I’m not surprised, that you pulled that comparison.”, Virgil uttered, “Still. Leave us alone. Trouble seems to follow you with every step you take.”

School was over. Almost.  
Afternoon rolled around and the students, that signed up for clubs, now pursued their activities.  
Patton had a hard time staying awake during book club.  
Same with Logan in his Astronomy club.  
Lucky for them, they didn’t do actual activities yet. They first had to make some plans about what they wanted to do this year.  
Virgil and Janus were part of the theater club. However, Virgil didn’t do any performing. He was responsible for the scenery.  
Janus, on the other hand, had a lot of joy performing on stage and slipping into different roles.  
Mx. Joan was responsible for running the club. However, they came a little late.  
When they finally arrived in the assembly hall, he had two students with him.  
“Oh no.”, Virgil and Janus exclaimed simultaneously.  
“Students!”, Mx Joan called out, “Gather around, we have two new members I’d like to introduce.”  
The group of teens gathered around the teacher, mumbling.  
“So, these are Roman Prince Kingsley and Remus Duke Kingsley.”, they introduced, “They recently moved to Sandersburgh, please welcome them with open arms!”  
The twins waved at the group with a smile.  
“We should have expected that.”, Virgil whispered to his brother, “These two seem like the kind to enjoy the stage.”  
“Indeed.”, Janus agreed, slightly ticked off.  
“Hey, didn’t you beat up that jock earlier?”, one student pointed at Remus.  
“Nah, he did that to himself.”, Remus waved it off, “The locker he punched just happened to be behind my face.”  
“I see you already have a reputation, Remus.”, Mx. Joan pointed out, worried.  
“Hey, hey, I didn’t make him punch me.”, Remus held up his hands on defense, a smug smile on his face, “I merely asked him to repeat what he had said to Janus and somehow, he got angry.”  
“Why-“, Janus wanted to interfere, but decided to bite his tongue for now.  
“... Can we talk about this after class?”, Mx. Joan directed that question towards both Remus and Janus.  
“Sure.”, Remus shrugged.  
“... Fine by me.”, another lie on Janus’s end.  
“Okay then.”, the teacher clapped once, “Now, take a seat everyone, and let’s discuss, what we want to perform this year!”

The last bell rang for the day. Most students left the assembly hall, except for the pairs of brothers.  
Roman and Virgil waited at the exit, while Mx. Joan had their conversation with Remus and Janus.  
“Okay, apparently, there’s more to the story than just the little incident, that went down in front of the boys restroom. What happened?”  
“Why don’t you enlighten them, Kingsley?”, Janus hissed.  
“Okey-dokey!”, Remus agreed, “So basically, that jock was a dick so I taught him a lesson.”  
“But you said-“  
“I didn’t get violent.”, Remus knew what the teacher was about to say, “I grabbed him by his collar and asked him to repeat what he said. And then he was the one who got violent. Roman can vouch for that.”, Remus pointed at his brother, “So can Logan and Patton, and pretty much half the school that had been watching the spectacle going down.”  
“And why did you do that?”, Mx. Joan wondered.  
“Again, he was being a dick.”  
“Could you... elaborate on that further?”  
“He threw some damn transphobic insults around.”, Remus’s voice turned serious for a moment, “And calling someone a burn victim for something that is not their fault? Low blow if ya ask me.”  
“You...”, Janus spoke up, “You caught onto that remark?”  
He was clearly referring to the transphobic comment the jock had used.  
“My cousin had to deal with similar bullshit when he came out, so.”, Remus filled in, “Not only did that asshole insult you, he also outed you in front of everyone who didn’t know already.”  
“Janus, is that true?”, Mx. Joan asked the taller student.  
“Yes...”, Janus said, staying true this time around.  
He never expected Remus to actually care about him. He though the twin had been another dude, who wanted to make fun of him. Turns out, Janus had been wrong.  
“Well, thank you for letting me know.”, Mx. Joan nodded, “I’ll make sure to bring that up in the call with his parents later. You can leave now.”  
The two teens said their good byes to the teacher and went on their merry way.  
Once they entered the hallways, Janus spoke up.  
“Thank you.”, he said to Remus.  
Virgil didn’t expect his brother to do that.  
“Why are you thanking me?”, Remus asked confused.  
“To be quite frank, no one ever stood up for me like that.”, Janus elaborated, “I didn’t think your... act had that motivation behind it.”  
“Ignorant, hateful fuckers like that jock are a thorn in my eye.”, Remus explained, “Although, I’d rather have an actual thorn in my eye than breathe the same air as that asswipe. We had to deal with plenty of these idiots at our old school, and let me tell ya, having two moms on top of that didn’t make things easier. That’s why we moved in the first place.”  
“I see.”, Janus thought out loud.  
“Can we go now?”, Virgil seemed to have been in a hurry, “Dad’s probably waiting outside already.”  
“Yeah, mom’s probably waiting too.”, Roman pointed out to his brother.  
“You guys go ahead, I need to take a piss.”, Remus removed himself from the group, waving.  
However, that had been a lie.  
In reality, he made his way outside to the sport fields, hoping to find a certain jock.  
He expected that bully to be the kind of person, who played football and wanted to get a scholarship for some random sports college.  
And correct he was.  
Despite school being over, the jock was still practicing with a football ball all by himself.  
Remus made a dash for it.  
Before the jock was able to react, Remus had drop kicked him to the ground.  
“What the fu-ACK!”, the sportsman tried to get up, but was hindered by Remus’s foot, that pressed his head back down in the grass.  
“Alright, you piece of shit.”, Remus growled, “Shut up, or I’ll tear off your nipples and shove them up your nose. You better use those two and a half braincells, and that’s already a generous number, and listen to me. If I notice, that you’ve been attacking either Janus or Virgil, or anyone for that matter, once again, I will fucking break your god damn kneecaps. You got me?”  
“You can’t-“  
“ **You got me?!** ”  
“...”  
“You don’t wanna know what I’m capable of doing.”  
“You wouldn’t even dare.”  
“Oh. Ohohohoho.”, Remus laughed while grabbing one of the jocks hands, holding onto the ring finger and the pinky, “I could break those on the spot. You wanna know what’s it’s like having broken fingers?”, he bent them back to a point where it started to pull on the other teens skin.  
“No, stop, please!”, the bully screamed into the dirt, “Don’t!”  
“Fine.”, Remus dropped the hand, “I will spare you for now. But make one wrong move, or say one wrong thing, and your shins will end up in a 90 degree angle.”  
Remus removed his foot from the others head and left him laying on the field.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the addition of the Storm brothers, how are things going to ensue?
> 
> Trigger warnings for this chapter: accidental self harm causing relapse, use of deadname in flashback, transphobia

“Man, I sure am glad we didn’t get any homework today.”, Patton stretched his arms, “I’m so tired. I think I’m gonna take a nap.”  
“Don’t you have to walk Fluffball?”, Logan reminded.  
“I can do that, don’t worry.”, Catherine chimed in, “You two relax and let the first day of school set in properly.”  
“Thanks mom.”, Patton yawned, “Man, we really shouldn’t have done that movie marathon.”  
“Indeed.”, Logan agreed. He tried to suppress his yawns.  
“Fluffball, come here!”, the mother called out to the canine while grabbing the leash.  
The tiny dog dashed towards Catherine, excited to get out and explore the neighborhood all over again.  
“See you on a bit!”, she smiled at the teen boys while putting the leash on Fluffballs collar. She then went outside and closed the door behind her.  
Patton took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with his free hand.  
“Imma head to bed.”, Patton told Logan tiredly.  
“Make sure not to nap for too long.”, Logan said, “It’ll mess with your sleep rhythm even more.”  
“I’ll set a timer.”, with that, Patton walked upstairs, to his room.  
Logan noticed he had grown a little hungry. However, he didn’t want to spoil his appetite too much, so he decided to settle on an apple.  
He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a green apple from the fruit basket.  
He decided that it was a good idea to slice it. So he washed it, set it down on the counter, grabbed a knife from the knife block, and started chopping.  
However, his tiredness conflicted with his thinking and coordination.  
If he hadn’t been so tired, he would have been able to tell himself, that he had been too tired to handle a knife.  
Quite an oxymoronic statement.  
But also, he wouldn’t have accidentally cut his finger with the second chop.  
“Argh-!”, he jolted back, throwing the knife away before holding his hurt hand.  
He stared at the cut.  
It wasn’t a deep cut. It was still deep enough to emit blood though.  
Logan started to shiver.  
His mind spiraled back to the time before summer.  
His arm started to itch again.  
Logan hadn’t felt that itch in weeks.  
He didn’t want to give in though.  
His inner conflict caused him to slowly break down bit by bit.  
It didn’t take long for tears to run down his cheeks.  
His breathing shortened, his heart rate had risen.  
“Oh god, no, no- I-“, he stumbled back, knocking over some pots that had been residing on the counter behind him.  
The loud bangs of the metal utensils startled Logan even more.  
He didn’t know how, but he suddenly found himself on the floor, still holding onto his hand.  
“Please- stop-“, he begged.

_No one can hear me._   
_I’m alone._   
_Again._

“F-fuck...“, he clenched his jaw.  
“Logan?!”, a voice pulled Logan back to reality a little.  
“H-help-“, the tall teen sobbed, “Please- Patton-“  
“I’m here! I’m here!”, Patton jumped over the pots on the floor and dropped to his knees in front of Logan.  
“It’s okay, you’re safe.”, Patton comforted quietly. He then noticed Logan’s hurt finger.  
“Don’t look at it.”, he told the crying boy.  
“I-“  
“Shh, it’s okay.”, Patton whispered, “Let‘s breathe, okay? 4-7-8, let’s go.“  
They went through the breathing exercise a few times before Patton got Logan up from the ground and brought him to the sofa. He quickly got a bandaid to take care of Logan’s small wound.  
“There you go.”, Patton smiled, once he had wrapped the band aid fully around Logan’s finger.  
“...”, the logical teen remained quiet.  
“Hey, it’s okay.”, Patton reassured his friend, “You’re safe.”  
“I almost did it again.”, Logan confessed, “I had the urge to do it again.”  
“Your small accident probably activated a trigger.”, Patton explained, “It happens, but remember that you’re safe and everything’s okay. You’re not alone.”  
“... I’m sorry for waking you.”, Logan apologized, deciding to retire the topic at hand.  
“You didn‘t, don’t worry.”, Patton waved it off, “I was scrolling on my phone, trying to find a good ASMR video to listen to, heh.”  
“I’m just causing trouble.”, Logan muttered, “Are you sure you guys want me stay? I’m sure I can make amends with my parents someho-“  
“No!”, Patton interrupted, “It’s totally okay! You can stay here all you want! I promise!”  
“But-“  
“Logan, look, I’m really scared that if you might return to your old home, you might end up... you know. As much as I hate saying this, but I don’t think your parents would react the same as mine did when I had my attempt.”  
Patton had a point.  
“Can I... hug you?”, Logan suddenly asked to Patton’s surprise.  
“Oh, of course!”, he smiled, opening his arms, “You don’t have to ask!”  
Logan leaned into the hug, letting his forehead rest on Patton’s shoulder. He tiredly wrapped his hands around Patton’s waist.  
Patton let his hands rest in the taller boys shoulder blades.  
Every time, Logan took a breath in, he inhaled the sweet bakery scent Patton smelled like. It was almost as if he had been baking cookies 24/7.  
The sweet scent of vanilla and cinnamon seemed to have a calm effect on Logan.  
Or it was just his love for Patton in general.

Logan was woken up by the smell of dinner being cooked. When he opened his eyes, he noticed what position he had been.  
Patton, still napping, was cuddled up against his chest. Both were covered by a thin, but snuggly blanket, while laying on the sofa.  
Logan decided to not wake Patton, and instead enjoy the moment a little.  
He’d wake up eventually. If not for the smell of the food, I’d be because his parents would wake them for dinner anyways.  
He closed his eyes again for a bit.  
His ears automatically ignored the banter coming from Patton’s parents, and the cooking noises coming from the kitchen. They focused on Patton’s peaceful breathing instead.  
He could have listened to that all day. Or, well, considering the context, all night.  
He unconsciously pulled the smaller teen closer.  
However, that moment sadly didn’t last long, to Logan’s dismay.  
Someone had been shaking both his and Patton’s shoulders in an attempt to wake them up.  
It was Catherine.  
“Sorry to interrupt your little nap, but dinner is ready.”, she sung sweetly, “Come on you two sleepyheads.”  
Patton yawned, rubbing his eyes with his fingers.  
Logan tried not to stare too much, however Patton’s adorable gesture had a magnetic power to it.  
“Hm...?”, Patton slowly opened his eyes, facing a blushing Logan.  
They awkwardly stared at each other for solid ten seconds, which felt like hours.  
“Oops, hehehe.”, Patton chuckled, “Sorry.”  
He got up first, considering he had been the one locking Logan in place.  
In the meantime, Catherine has made her way back to the kitchen, leaving the two teens alone again.  
Logan sat up, stretching his arms and back.  
“How are you feeling?”, Patton asked while fixing his round glasses.  
“Much better.”, Logan smiled a little.  
“I’m glad!”, Patton smiled back.

“Janus! Virgil!”, the mother called from the kitchen, “Can you help us set the table, please?”  
The Storm family, consisting of the two brothers, parents Casper and Erika, and pets Medusa the snake, and Jack Spiderton the bird spider, lived in a one storey apartment. It was part of a small complex, located on the first floor on the left.  
The teen boys left their rooms to help with what their mother asked for.  
Virgil took the four plates, while Janus took over the small stuff like the silverware and the salt shaker.  
Their parents quickly followed with two pots, placing them in the middle, on top of two cutting boards.  
“Aye, our favorite.”, Virgil cheered with little enthusiasm, “Spagetti and meatballs.”  
“We wanted to treat you a little after your first day of school.”, their father Casper explained with a smile while taking a seat.  
“Nice.”, Virgil sat down as well, followed by Janus and Erika.  
“Did everything go well?”, Casper asked his sons.  
The brothers gave each other a worried look.  
“I take that as a no.”, Erika caught on, “What happened?”  
“The usual bullying.”, Virgil muttered.  
“Oh, no.”, Erika shook her head, “That boy really needs some discipline.”  
Janus quietly grabbed his portion of the food, remaining awfully silent during the conversation.  
Virgil was next to get his portion. Erika and Casper always let their kids have dinner first.  
“It’s, whatever.”, Virgil uttered.  
“It’s not.”, Casper countered, “That punk needs to learn a lesson.”  
“I have a feeling he did.”, Janus whispered quietly to himself while poking his food.  
“How so?”, Casper raised an eyebrow. Janus had hoped his father wouldn’t hear the remark, but alas. He had incredibly good ears.  
“There are... two new students at our school.”, Janus explained, “Twins. One of them appears to have no shame whatsoever and almost got into a fistfight with that jock. But for some reason I don’t think it ended there. Not only that, Mx. Joan told me they’d call the bullies parents. Once more. As if that’ll help.”  
Janus rolled his eyes.  
“Something needs to happen.”, Casper lightly banged his fist on the table, “This can’t continue forever.”  
“It won’t.”, Janus countered, “High school won’t last that long.”  
“True.”, Virgil agreed.  
“But still, you don’t need to endure that kind of behavior for the last two years of your high school life.”, Erika argued, “Maybe we need to pay Principal Sanders another visit.”  
“It’s fine.”, Janus lied, “You don’t have to do that.”  
“You say that every time, but nothing has changed so far.”, the mother pointed out.  
“It’s... really not that big of a deal.”, Janus finally took a bite from his food, to avoid more taking.  
“To us it is!”, Casper exclaimed, “We know exactly what you two are going through! This needs to stop!”  
Janus remained quiet again. Silently eating his dinner.  
He had been very grateful for his parents.  
Janus joined the Storm family when he was ten years old.  
His birth mother Elisa ignored him for the most part. She went out to parties and stayed away from home for multiple days, sometimes even weeks. Janus had almost no memory of her.  
His birth father Connor on the other hand, an abuse alcoholic, had plenty of memorable moments. All negative. He has been mostly pissed at the fact that his cheating girlfriend left him with a stupid little brat he had to feed. So he took the anger out on little Janus.  
Janus had to endure that abuse and neglect until one day, the neighbors called CPS.  
The nice lady from the child protective services took young Janus under her wing, matching her with a family that fit his needs perfectly.  
A couple, unable to have children of their own, due to one of them being an assigned male at birth trans woman. They already had an adopted son, Virgil, who was the same age as Janus.

_“Welcome to the family, Angelica.”, the mother greeted the young girl._   
_Angelica remained quiet for now. She needed to get used to her new home first._   
_“My name is Erika, and this is my husband Casper.”, Erika introduced._   
_Behind Caspers leg was a young boy, hiding from the new foster family member._   
_“This is Virgil.”, the mother took over her sons introduction, “He’s a bit shy, but I’m sure the two of you will get along.”_   
_Angelica gave a small wave._   
_Hesitantly, Virgil waved back._

_They didn’t get along at first. It took around a year for them to see eye to eye and become close siblings._

_Two years after Angelica had been accepted into her new foster family, the parents had a huge announcement for her and Virgil._   
_“Kids! Could you come to the living room please?”, Casper called out the preteens._   
_“Coming!”, came from the hallway, followed by fast footsteps._   
_“Take a seat on the sofa, please.”, the father asked._   
_While the kids ran up to the sofa, they noticed Erika had been waiting there already._   
_“Hi mom!”, they greeted her with high energy._   
_“Hello, kids!”, she greeted back with a smile._   
_“Okay, now that everyone’s here-“, the father took a seat in the armchair next to the sofa, “-we have an announcement for you two.”_   
_“Is it another sibling?”, Virgil asked._   
_“No, not quite, hehe.”, Erika giggled._   
_“Angelica.”, Casper tried getting his foster daughters attention, “You’ve been part of our family for the past two years.”_   
_“A-am I moving away?!”, Angelica asked scared._   
_“No, absolutely not!”, Casper quickly debunked Angelicas fears, “Your mother and I actually would like to officially adopt you!”_   
_“Wait, really?”, Angelica cheered._   
_“Yes!”, Erika confirmed once again, “We already have the paperwork done, we just wanted to let you know before making it official.”_

_Angelica Storm._   
_That name would only last for around three more years until Angelica expressed her wish to change her name to Janus Damien Storm, and to be referred to as a boy._   
_Which, to no ones surprise, Erika and Casper were highly supportive of. They immediately ordered a binder for their son and made an appointment at the hairdresser. Erika even promised to talk to her doctor to take care of Janus when it came to the medical part._   
_Janus knew he had to reintroduce himself to everyone in high school once freshmen year rolled around._   
_And once he did, the reactions were rather mixed._   
_Some didn’t care, some were indifferent, some right out hated that. Janus would make sure to stay way from the third kind._   
_Only a few people were supportive, which included his own brother of course, but also Patton Hart and Logan Croft._   
_Janus wouldn’t say that they became friends, but they were good acquaintances for sure._   
_Janus liked having conversations and debates with Logan every now and again, while he enjoyed Patton’s cheery and up beat energy._

“We’re gonna talk to Principal Sanders tomorrow and that’s that.”, Casper put his foot down.  
Janus gave up. He knew there was no use arguing against his fathers will.

After dinner, Janus made a dash for his room. When he closed the door behind him he noticed how painful his chest had finally gotten. A good sign for him to take his binder off.  
He made his was towards the closet to grab an oversized shirt with a two headed yellow snake printed on it. He threw it on his bed before taking off the turtleneck and the binder he’d been wearing for far too long. He then grabbed his shirt again and threw that on.  
He took a deep breath and relaxed his shoulders.  
He checked his terrarium, to see if Medusa was out. And indeed, she was. She just finished drinking a few sips of water.  
“Why, good afternoon, Medusa.”, Janus made his way to his pet, holing a hand in for Medusa to slither on.  
She accepted the invitation and immediately rolled up to a ball in Janus’s hand.  
“There you go, good girl.”, he cooed her, petting her little head lightly with his finger, “I won’t be disturbing you for too long.”, the then placed his hand back down, letting Medusa slither back. He checked the terrarium twice, to make sure it’s properly closed, before grabbing his turtleneck and making his way back outside, to bring it to the washroom.  
He encountered Virgil, who had gotten some snacks from the kitchen.  
Virgil decided to follow Janus, as he wanted to talk to him anyways.  
“Do you think it’ll get worse?”, he asked Janus, picking up the old bully topic again.  
“It already has, hasn’t it?”, Janus hissed annoyed while throwing his top in the hamper.  
“Yeah, but, you know...”, Virgil scratched his neck, “It can always get worse.”  
“It could also get better.”, Janus countered, “Not that I believe that, but we have to stay realistic here.”

Oh boy, did he believe wrong.  
The next day, when Janus and Virgil, accompanied by their parents, entered the school building, the jock had been waiting there. For them.  
“H-Hey Janus. Virgil.”, the bully greeted, terrified.  
“Uhm. Hello?”, Janus greeted back, confused.  
Virgil decided to stay silent.  
“I just wanted to apologize. You know, for yesterday?”, the bully nervously rubbed his neck.  
“Okay, who‘s forcing you to apologize?”, Virgil quickly changed his mind about being quiet and scolded the jock.  
“N-no one, I swear!”, the scared teen waved his hands around, “I-I figured, it’s a new school year, and I could try to be a better person, that’s all!”

_That sure as hell is a lie._

“Okay...?”, Janus raised an eyebrow, “And what exactly are you sorry for?”  
“Oh, you know? The things I said yesterday...?”  
“What were those?”, Janus crossed his arms, “Please remind me, I forgot.”  
“That-“, the bully glanced at Janus’s parents, and back and Janus, “Come on! You know!”  
“I don’t.”, Janus lied.  
“H-“, slowly, the jocks nervousness turned into anger again.  
“You know very well, you little-“, he then cut himself off before going too far, “-littleeee school pal of mine! Haha.”  
Janus rolled his eyes.  
“You know what? That’s the best I’ll get out of you.”, he concluded, “Thank you for trying to make an effort to apologize.”, he didn’t mean that.  
“We’re still going to talk to the principal.”, Casper whispered to his wife. She nodded in agreement.  
“Oh!”, a voice popped up behind Virgil, making him jump.  
Seems like the Kingsley twins had arrived.  
“Good morning, guys!”, Remus greeted, full volume and way too enthusiastically.  
The jock started to become visibly nervous again. And Remus took note of that.  
“I hope everything is okay here.”, he glared at the sportsman.  
“Yes, Remus, sir, it is!”, the jock stuttered, “Isn’t that right, Janus?”  
“Yes...”, Janus raised an eyebrow.  
“Good.”, Remus kept the glare up, “See you guys later in theater.”, he then dropped the glare and waved at the Storm brothers before leaving them alone again.  
“Oh, and you’re really apologizing on your own free will?”, Janus asked again, “You know what?”, he held up a hand, “I don’t want an answer to that. It doesn’t matter, because you don’t matter to me.”

“Remus, what did you do?”, Janus confronted the chaotic twin right away.  
“Whaddya mean?”, Remus, turning away from his locker, grinned.  
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”, Janus hissed.  
“Oh, you mean how I threatened to break that assholes legs, knees and fingers, if he continued his dick behavior?”, Remus shut his locker, “You mean that?”  
“You did what?”, Janus didn’t believe his ears, “Are you insane?!”  
“How about demented?”, Remus shrugged.  
“You-“, for the first time in a long while, Janus was speechless.  
“Well, see ya later hot stuff.”, Remus decided to leave it at that. He blew Janus a kiss and a wink before leaving him alone.

That little gesture would stick Janus up until theater club.  
Scratch that, it wasn’t only the gesture, it was Remus’s entire being stuck with Janus.

_“You’re really hot!”_   
_“I like tall dudes.”_   
_“See ya later hot stuff!”_   
_A wink._   
_A kiss._

“God fucking damn it.”, Janus gritted through his teeth. Luckily, his brother had headphones on, so he didn’t hear Janus’s frustration.  
That was the first time a person had ever intrigued Janus that strongly.  
He wanted to know what was going on in Remus’s brain.  
But he hated that. He hated, that he wanted to know.  
Virgil warned Janus to stay away from Remus. And Virgil usually had a good gut feeling about those kind of things.  
And yet, Janus had the thirst to know more about that strange teen.  
Someone, who was that reckless to attack a random student for being mean.  
“Okay, everyone here?”, Mx. Joan scanned the group of teens, sitting in the seats and on the stage. Janus gave his brother a shove with his elbow, indicating that he should be on the stage. Virgil put his headphones down and made a run for the stage.  
“Yup, looks like it, okay then!”, Mx. Joan nodded, “I picked our next project! You guys had great suggestions, and I looked into every single one.”  
“So which one will it be?”, a random girl asked without being called on.  
“Duality of Men, the musical.”, the teacher announced, “Its a musical about a man in between heaven and hell. Good and bad, and he’s constantly being followed by a devil and an angel, and their minions.”  
“Wasn’t that your suggestion?”, Roman whispered to his twin.  
Remus hopped up and down in his seat with excitement.  
“I take that as a yes.”, Roman smiled.  
“I went through the script, and I’m sure I have the perfect roles for everyone!”, Mx. Joan grabbed his notebook and flipped through the pages, “Here it is. To get the three main roles of Mr. Charleston, the Devil, and the Angel out of the way, I chose Storm and both Kingsleys for these roles.”  
The three teens gasped.  
Virgil, who sat on the stage, gave his brother a thumbs up.  
“Janus, you’ll be Mr. Charleston.”, Mx. Joan gave more detailed information on who’s going to play who, “Roman, you’re the Angel, and Remus, you’re the Devil.”  
“Fuck yes!”, Remus cheered, “High five!”  
He held his hand up high, and Roman, just as excited, reciprocated it.  
“Yeah, Mx. Joan?”, a girl raised her hand. She already had a spoiled attitude going on.  
“Yes, Ashley?”, Mx. Joan called the student.  
“Shouldn’t the main lead be, like, a real man?”, she asked.  
A shock went down Janus’s spine.

_Right._   
_I’m not a real man._

“Shouldn’t the second fiddle shut the fuck up?!”, Remus yelled from his seat.  
“Hey!”, Ashley got up, turning around to face Remus, “I’m right, aren’t I?”  
“That hair bleach must have gotten to your smooth brain, huh?”, Remus got up from his seat too.  
“I just don’t think, that a girl disguised as a boy should take the main role, that is male!”, Ashley defended her claim.  
Janus sunk in his seat, trying not to cry. He bit the inside of his cheek with his sharp canine tooth.  
“Oh, how about we take that discussion outside, you little bitch?!”, Remus threatened.  
“You wouldn’t dare hit a girl!”, Ashley scoffed.  
“Damn, Slutty McWhore, ever heard of equality?”, Remus chuckled, “Every dumb moron gets a first full!”  
“Okay, okay, calm down you two.”, Mx. Joan tried to break up the argument.  
However, Janus suddenly running out of the assembly hall did a better job at that.  
Or did it?  
It had been quiet for a moment, yes, however it was more like the calm before the storm.  
“Get over here, you filthy knock off Regina George!”, Remus jumped over the seats, making his way to Ashley, “I will rip those cheap ass Barbie hair extensions out of your fucking skull!”  
The students around him screamed in fear, Ashley tried to escape from her seat. Which was hard, since she had been surrounded by other teenagers.  
Roman quickly climbed after Remus, trying to stop him.  
While chaos ensued, Virgil made a dash for the door.  
Once out of the assembly hall, he checked left and right, hoping to spot his brother.  
He decided to run outside, checking to see if Janus may be on his way home.  
He opened the main entrance doors, and spottet his brother, sitting at the bus stop, taking a call.  
Virgil made another dash for it.  
“Y-yeah.”, Janus, failing at hiding his hurt feelings, stuttered, “I-I can’t, could you guys please pick me up?”  
Virgil took the freedom and grabbed Janus’s phone.  
“Don’t pick him up yet, I got this.”, he then hung up.  
“Virge-“  
“Janus.”, Virgil sat down next to his brother, handing him his phone back, “Whatever Ashley stuttered was absolute bullshit, and you know that.”  
“N-No.”, Janus sniffled, “She’s right. I’ll never be a real man.”  
“You’re ten times the man I’ll ever be, that’s for sure.”, Virgil tried cheering his brother up, “Like, look at mom! She’s a fully fledged woman, just like any other woman out there.”  
“...”  
“Remember. You’re Janus Damien Storm.”, Virgil held onto his brothers hand, “My brother. And not whoever they think you are.“  
“I-I just-“, Janus closed his eyes, finally letting the tears roll. He grabbed onto his pants with his free hand, almost ripping them.  
“It’s okay, let it all out.”, Virgil encouraged Janus to be more open.  
Janus hesitated, trying to suppress his feelings, however, sadness got the best of him and he let the stream of tears fall freely. He started heavily sobbing, hiding his face in his hands.  
Virgil gave the much taller boy an awkward side hug. That’s the best he was able to do.  
“Whaddup dorks, am I interrupting something?”, a third voice popped up behind them.  
Remus.  
Virgil broke the hug and turned his head.  
“What do you want, Mister chaos twin?”, Virgil mocked the newcomer.  
“I was sent outside to cool off.”, Remus held up his fist, filled with ripped out blonde hair, “Turns out Ashley doesn’t wear extensions.”  
“What-“  
“Don’t worry, I got detention, heh.”, Remus let the clump of hair fall to the ground, “But it was worth it.”  
“You’re insane.”, Virgil pointed out.  
“Try demented.”, Remus kicked the ball of hair around like it had been a pebble, “Janus, how are you doing?”  
Janus didn’t respond.  
He was still preoccupied sobbing in his hands.  
“Hm, not too good I’d say.”, Remus shrugged.  
“Well, duh, try being in his position.”, Virgil muttered.  
“I can’t, that’s the thing.”, Remus corrected, “I will never know, what he’s going through. But what I know is that I can try and make him suffer less.”  
“By beating everyone up that’s being rude?”, Virgil raised an eyebrow.  
“Hey, being a transphobe isn’t rude.”, Remus exclaimed a little angry, “That’s a reason to get my shoe in your face!”  
“GOD, SHUT UP!”, Janus finally spoke up.  
Well, more like, yelled at the top of his lungs.  
“Wha-“, Remus was taken aback by the sudden outburst.  
“Why are you doing all of this?!”, Janus questioned, “You don’t even fucking know me!”  
“I-“, Remus wanted to explain himself, but in the heat of emotion, Janus didn’t give him a chance.  
“I just wanna be left alone!”, he cried, “I don’t want some random psychopathic brain dead moron to be my bodyguard! I don’t want anyone to get all up in my personal business, just let me be for crying out loud!”  
That stung.  
Janus’s words stung.  
It was a feeling Remus had never felt before.  
It was as if someone rammed a knife into his heart and twisted it.  
“You pretend like we’ve been best friends for an eternity!”, Janus continued his rant, “But guess what?! Aside from the most basic details, we have no idea who the other is! And I’d be glad if it stayed that way! Leave! Me! Alone!”  
“I...”, Remus spoke up, but quickly dropped it, “Okay, fine.”, he muttered defeated. He buried his hands in his pants pockets and left the brothers alone.  
When Virgil looked back, he noticed Remus had his head hang low.  
“... Ugh, I hate to say this, but don’t you think you went a little too far there?”, he asked Janus.  
“If that’s the only way to get him to leave me alone, then yes.”, Janus replied, a little calmer now, “Now let me go home please.”  
“O-okay.”, Virgil nodded, as he stood up, “I’ll take care of your school things.”  
“Thanks.”, Janus wiped away his tears with his sleeve.  
“... See ya later.”, Virgil waved, however Janus was already focused on his phone.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting more serious between Logan and Patton, while Remus was sent on an emotional roller coaster.
> 
> ... Yeah, I dunno, this is the part where more and more time skips are happening, and it's getting hard to summarize each chapter :')
> 
> Trigger warnings: flashback of Romulus's death traumatizing Remus

“Remus, I got a call from your theater teac-“,  
“Fuck off, Maria.”, Remus barked at his step mother, making a run for his room.  
He made clear that he had reached it by slamming it shut, loudly.  
“You got a call?”, Anne asked her wife.  
“Yes, apparently Remus ripped out a girls hair.”, Marie filled in.  
“Roman, did you witness this?”, Anne asked her son, “Why didn’t you tell me in the car?”  
“You... saw how charged Remus is.”, Roman vaguely pointed at where Remus’s room was located, “It would have made things worse.”  
“But what happened?”, Anne wondered.  
“Well...”,  
After Romans recap, the mothers looked at each other, worried.  
“And after he was outside to cool off, he was, well, that.”, Roman finished his side of the story, “I don’t know what happened while he was outside. He didn’t even talk to me for the rest of the club meeting.”  
“I’ll check on him.”, Anne got up from her seat and went upstairs.  
She knocked twice, waiting for a response from her son.  
However, when Remus didn’t reply, Anne assumed he had been either ignoring her on purpose, or he had been listening to music on full volume.  
Once she had opened the door, she had her answer. It was the latter.  
Anne entered the room and closed the door behind her.  
Remus was laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, arms under his head.  
He noticed his mom coming in, but didn’t bother turning the music off.  
Anne sat down next to Remus.  
Now, he put the effort into turning the music off.  
“What’s bothering you, sweetheart?”, Anne brushed her hand through Remus’s slightly greasy hair.  
“...”, Remus remained quiet.  
“Mx. Joan called earlier tod-“  
“Please, don’t.”, Remus interrupted his mother.  
“Okay...”, Anne nodded, “We’re not gonna talk about that then.”  
“You know how...”, Remus tried finding the right words, “You know how usually when I get insulted, I don’t care?”  
“I do, yes.”, Anne nodded.  
“Someone insulted me as “ random psychopathic brain dead moron” earlier, and usually I’d be like “You hit it right on the spot, my dude!”, but...”, Remus scratched his chest, “It hurt. A lot.”  
“Who said that to you?”, Anne pulled her hand out of Remus’s hair.  
“It’s... that one guy that caught my interest.”, Remus explained, “I wanted to help him out by scaring off his bullies, but that made things worse. He wants me to leave him alone now. Maybe I went too far...”  
“Give him some time.”, Anne suggested, “You can always go ahead and apologize.”  
“Yeah, nah, I’m pretty sure I’m dead to him.”, Remus waved it off, “.... But why the fuck does it hurt so weirdly?! I’ve been so unbothered before, why now?!”  
“Maybe you caught yourself a little crush on the first sight.”, Anne pointed out teasingly.  
“I don’t believe in that.”, Remus scoffed.  
“You better do.”, Anne giggles a little, “That’s how Romulus and I fell in love after all.”

“Hey, Lo, you got some time?”, Patton asked, as he peeked inside the other teens room.  
“I do.”, Logan confirmed. He sat at his desk, doing some extra schoolwork.  
“I need help again, heh.”, Patton held up his notebook and math book in front of his chest.  
“Of course.”, Logan closed his book. He did some extra studies on Astronomy.  
“Wait, I’ll grab my chair from my room!”, Patton placed his schoolwork on Logan’s table and left again.  
Not for long though, as he swiftly came back, rolling his office chair in front of him.  
“Alrighty!”, he cheered, taking a seat next to Logan.  
“So, what seems to be the problem?”, Logan asked while checking the work Patton had been doing.  
Most things Patton had written down were chaotically crossed out.  
“... Everything.”, he admitted sheepishly.  
Logan sighed.  
“I don’t understand.”, he said, “You’re capable of understanding the equations and how to get to the solution...”  
“I dunno, it just doesn’t interest me.”, Patton shrugged, “I keep getting distracted and then I forget where I was. But whenever you explain it to me, I have a much easier time solving everything.”  
“I see.”, Logan nodded, suppressing a smile, “Well then, let’s get started.”  
After Logan explained the process of getting to x in detail, he let Patton solve the equation by himself.  
The tinier teen took a little longer than Logan would have liked, however he let Patton have the time he needed.  
Logan kept glancing at Patton’s hair.  
The way his dirty blond locks fell, as if they weighed close to nothing, partly covering Patton’s eyes and ears.  
Without giving it a second though, Logan stretch out his arm and placed his hand on top of Patton’s head, digging his fingers softly into the hair.  
“Huh?”, Patton looked up from his notebook and at Logan.  
The latter had been blushing a lot.  
“Y-your hair...”, he stammered, “It’s really soft.”  
“Thanks...!”, Patton smiled, also blushing by now.  
He enjoyed the sudden attention.  
Patton closed his eyes and leaned into Logan’s hand.  
Logan let his hands wander down to Patton’s cheek, caressing it with his thumb.  
Patton held onto Logan’s hand, hindering him from removing it.  
Not that Logan wanted to do that.  
He didn’t.  
Quite the contrary, he desperately felt the need to close the gap.  
“May I-“, Logan choked.

_Nervousness. I assume._

Patton’s eyes shot open, staring at Logan with hope. He gulped, and nodded, holding back his excitement back for now.  
Logan cupped his friends other cheek as well and carefully inched them closer, until they met in the middle. Well. Somewhat the middle. Considering the extreme height difference.  
The kiss was soft and sweet, and probably lasted a bit longer than it should have.  
When Logan broke the kiss, he leaned back, letting go of Patton’s face. The tall teens face seemed to have been filled with confusion.  
Patton’s insecurity kicked in instantly.  
“E-everything okay?”, he asked, smiling nervously.  
“I’m... fine, I guess.”, Logan rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger, slipping past his glasses, “I’m just...”  
Patton started to play with the dangly parts of his hood.  
“It’s just that-“, Logan sighed, “I said I wanted to take my time with this, which would be the most logical thing to do considering my current state. But something irrational tells me, that that isn’t what I want, and now I’m in a dilemma; an inner conflict.”  
“Oh.”, escaped Patton’s mouth.  
“How do you truly feel about this?”, Logan wondered, “I know you said you were okay with waiting, but... are you really okay with that?”  
“Hmmm.”, Patton pulled a little at the strings, “To be honest with you, I’m not.”, he the admitted quietly, avoiding eye contact, “Ever since you told me that you liked me too, I’ve been dying to make it official. There’s nothing more in the world that I want than being your boyfriend, but you being comfortable with it is more important, and I want you to be happy! And now, I probably put more pressure on you, making you feel like you need to hurry up or something and-“  
“Patton.”, Logan raised a hand, trying to stop Patton’s ramble.  
“Y-yeah?”, Patton finally managed to get eye contact back with Logan.  
“It’s okay.”, Logan gave a nod.  
“So... you don’t feel pressured now?”, Patton hoped fearfully.  
“No.”, the black haired teen shook his head, “Not any more than I had before already. In my mind, I’m doing the right thing by waiting. But that oddly irrational... voice, almost, is completely against that.”  
“That may be your heart speaking.”, Patton shrugged, “Not literally of course.”

_My heart?_   
_That...._

“That would make sense.”, Logan finally put the pieces together, “Does it always feel so strange?”  
“Well, you never truly listened to your heart, did you?”, Patton pointed out.  
“I never did, no.”, Logan confirmed, “Not until very recently apparently.”  
“Yeah...”, Patton scratched his neck nervously, “So... what now?”  
“What do you mean?”, Logan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.  
“What... are we now? Y’know?”, Patton picked at his nails. He needed to do something to combat his nervousness.  
Logan remained quiet.  
He placed his flat hand on his chest, staring off into what seemed to be nothing.  
“I would like to explore these feelings slowly, and more in detail.”, he finally broke the silence, “And I think it would be adequate, if I had you as my boyfriend by my side.”  
Patton gasped loudly. His expression quickly changing from nervous to pure happiness.  
“Really?!”, he asked with a high squealing voice.  
Logan smiled and nodded.  
He was quickly embraced in a pair of arms, tightly wrapped around his neck.  
Patton basically jumped on his lap, attacking him with a tackle hug.  
“I know you’re excited-“, Logan muffled into Patton’s shoulder, “-but we still need to finish your math schoolwork.”

The next day at school seemed surprisingly odd for Roman.  
Patton had been even more happy and cheerful as usual. He was almost like a bouncy ball, that had infinite bounces; it never stopped.  
Even Logan seemed happy. It was a small smile, that graced his face, but a smile nonetheless.  
On the other end of the spectrum, there was his brother.  
Remus still didn’t feel better compared to the day prior. That even showed in the way he dressed. He was surprisingly dressed down for his caliber.  
He looked between the pair of childhood friends and his twin.  
“Okay, this is unsettling.”, he pointed out, “Would you guys be so kind and enlighten me on what’s going on?”  
Remus decided to remain quiet. Roman expected that, actually.  
Patton shot a glance at Logan.  
“Can I tell him?”, he asked, “Pleeeease?”  
Logan sighed with a small grin.  
“Go ahead.”, he hummed.  
Patton turned his head back, facing Roman with a huge smile.  
“We’re boyfriends now!”, he cheered.  
“Ah! How marvelous!”, Roman beamed, “Congratulations!”  
“Ugh.”, Remus spat. He kicked himself off of the wall he’d been leaning onto, and left without saying any other word.  
“What’s up with him?”, Patton asked worried.  
“I don’t know.”, Roman crossed his arms and shook his head, “He’s been like that since yesterday afternoon.”  
Romans attention quickly shifted, as he saw two familiar brothers passing by.  
“Ah, Virgil, Janus!”, he called out to them, “Could we talk for a moment, please?”  
“Let’s get going.”, Janus muttered.  
“You go ahead, I’ll take care of this.”, Virgil replied.  
“You don’t-“  
“Listen, better now when he’s alone, than when both of them are in art class with me, okay?”, Virgil argued.  
“... Fine.”, Janus gave in, leaving Virgil alone.  
“What’s the matter?”, Virgil shuffled towards the taller teen.  
“Is there a place we could talk alone perhaps?”, Roman questioned.

Virgil knew a place. Him and Janus had spent a lot of time there before.  
It was a small hide out behind the school, hidden by bushes and trees.  
“So, what do you want?”, Virgil sunk a little in his posture, hands buried in his jackets pockets again.  
“Did something happen between you two and Remus yesterday?”, Roman cut right to the chase.  
“What do you mean?”, Virgil pretended not to know.  
“Don’t act like that.”, Roman instantly saw right through that though, “I know an actor when I see one. Plus... Remus has been awfully quiet ever since he came back from his little cool down. Something must have happened.”  
“... It- It did, yeah.”, Virgil rolled his eyes, “Janus got fed up with Remus’s behavior and told him to leave us alone.”  
“Oh?”, Roman raised an eyebrow.  
“Look, I’m not gonna sugarcoat anything, but your brother is a bit too much.”, Virgil elaborated, “He seems to be a trouble magnet. He legit activated my fight or flight response a few times already. But I have to admit, that Janus was the one who went a bit too far yesterday. He called Remus all sorts of nasty things and told him multiple times to stay away from him.”  
“I know my brother is... a lot.”, Roman tried putting it into nice terms, “I’ve known him my whole life after all, I should know. And dealing with him gets overwhelming, even exhausting at times. But... there are a lot of reasons why he’s the way he is.”, Roman waved with his hands, “Not that they’re excuses, of course.”, he dropped his hands again, “Let’s just say, he went through a lot of bad stuff, especially in the past few years. But that’s not the point.”  
“Cut to the point then, Princey.”, Virgil rushed his schoolmate.  
“Right, yes, I’m sorry.”, Roman shook his head to get a clear mind again, “Is there a chance Janus could talk to Remus? Without the insults? Could you persuade him or something?”  
“I’m the last person to do that kind of thing!”, Virgil offendedly argued against Romans plea, “You know my stance on Remus!”  
“But you’re the only one who’s close enough to Janus for this sort of ordeal.”, Roman desperately countered, “I don’t know who else to ask!”  
“No.”, Virgil shook his head.  
“Oh, please Virgil!”, Roman begged even more, “I’ll make it up to you! I swear! I don’t want them to be best friends or anything, I just want them to talk things out! Nothing more!”  
“... You’re a Disney fan, right?”, Virgil asked. The question seemed so out of place, that it confused Roman.  
“I am, obviously.”, he pointed at his shirt, which was Beauty and the Beast themed for that day.  
“So you know Nightmare before Christmas.”, Virgil stated.  
“I watch it every Halloween and Christmas.”, Roman noted, “But why-“  
“You know that one huge limited wall scroll that goes for, like, 100 bucks?”, Virgil smirked.  
“... You want me to buy that for you, don’t you?”, Roman connected the dots.  
Virgil nodded triumphantly.  
“Ugh, fine, I’ll get it for you, but you best talk to Janus for that.”, Roman got his phone from his pocket, to write himself a note to order the wall scroll later once he got back home.  
“A deal is a deal.”, Virgil shrugged, “But don’t think you can do that all the time with me.”  
“Oh, don’t worry.”, Roman laughed, “I won’t. You’re a bit too edgy for my taste, Hot Topic.”  
“Aw, you think I’m hot.”, Virgil teased while walking away from Roman, heading back to the school building.

The first class Virgil and Janus had was history. A subject that interested both so-so. It depended on what part of history the teacher had been talking about.  
Virgil almost came too late, but he made it into the classroom last second.  
He quietly went to the back, taking a seat next to Janus.  
“So.”, Janus whispered, “What did he want?”  
“He asked me to ask you to talk to Remus again.”, Virgil spilled the beans right away.  
“No.”, Janus denied. And Virgil expected that.  
“Well, what Roman asked for is, that you just tell Remus the same stuff you said yesterday.”, Virgil filled in, “But with less screaming and insults. And maybe let him talk too, hear his side ‘n’ stuff.”  
“I wish to not be associated with Remus.”, Janus clenched his jaw in anger, “Understood?”  
“Haha, jokes on you.”, Virgil sarcastically laughed, “Remember who got the three main roles in our upcoming musical yesterday?”  
“Hgh-“, Janus tensed up.  
He had completely forgotten that him and the Kingsley twins would have to spend a lot of time together just for the musical alone.  
And this had been the first time Janus snagged a main role in anything that wasn’t his pitiful life.  
He wouldn’t give that up just like that.  
He also didn’t want to give Ashley the satisfaction.  
“Just for the sake of that, I feel like you two need to make amends.”, Virgil shrugged.  
Janus exhaled loudly.  
“Shit.”

“Here, you can have my lunch.”, Remus dropped his lunch back in the middle of the table.  
Roman, Logan and Patton looked between the food and Remus, highly worried.  
“What?”, Remus hissed, “I’m not hungry.”  
“That can’t be true.”, Roman grabbed the bag and put it back in front of Remus, “You skipped dinner yesterday and breakfast today. Eating nothing is worse than just eating junk.”  
“Who fucking cares?”, Remus shrugged.  
“I do.”, Roman countered instantly.  
“Sure, whatever.”, Remus gave the bag a little push, making it fall over.  
“Excuse me, Remus?”  
Remus never expected to hear that voice outside of the theater club ever again.  
He turned around, facing Janus, who had been staring down at the twin.  
“What?”, Remus asked, slightly terrified.  
“I... would like to talk to you. Privately.”, Janus seemed clearly uncomfortable.  
“Oh, so that you can yell at me even more?”, Remus barked, turning back around, “Why don’t you fuck me gently with a chainsaw instead? I would enjoy that much more.”  
“No.”, Janus said, trying to remain calm, “I would like to make amends.”  
“Fine, whatever.”, Remus got up, “Let’s get this shit over with.”  
Considering most, if not, all students were in the cafeteria, the hallways were empty enough for Janus and Remus to have their private conversation.  
“So, what the fuck do you want?”, Remus asked, leaning against the wall.  
“I would like to apologize for my behavior towards you yesterday.”, Janus explained, “It was highly uncalled for.”  
Remus raised an eyebrow before sighing.  
“Okay, who paid you to apologize to me? Was it my mom?”  
“What?”, Janus took a step back, “Why is it so hard to believe that I am genuinely trying to make amends here?”  
“... You hurt me.”, Remus stared intensely into Janus’s two toned eyes, “You hurt me quite a lot, actually.”  
Regret built up in Janus’s face.  
“Well, that’s why I’m trying to apologi-“  
“No, you don’t understand.”, the twin interrupted the other teen, “Your words actually stung. They were so filled with anger and hatred, that it hurt. So I don’t think you actually mean it, and you’re trying to sorta kinda fix the problem with tape.”  
“... Maybe I am.”, Janus confessed, “Maybe I am trying to do exactly that. But don’t you think, that that is better than whatever is between us right now?”  
“You want me to pretend all of this never happened and just live a happy little sunshine life? Pah!”, Remus scoffed, “As if.”  
“Why did you do this?”, Janus wondered, “Why did you go after my bullies?”  
“... They deserved it.”, Remus uttered.  
“But I don’t understand why you’re doing that for me.”, Janus elaborated with more detail this time around, “We’ve known each other for two days.”  
“And?”, Remus rolled his eyes, “Those fuckers are still insufferable. They just need to mind their own damn business.”  
“But they won’t.”, Janus hissed, “That’s the thing.”  
“Well, Ashley and that jock sure have left you alone.”  
“... Touché.”, Janus admitted defeat.  
“Look, I get it, you want me to leave you alone.”, Remus pushed himself off the wall, “And I will. You don’t need to fucking apologize or whatever, that won’t change my mood.”  
Remus turned on his heel by 90 degrees and made his way back to the cafeteria.  
“Thank you.”  
However, he quickly stopped in his tracks.  
“Did you just fucking thank me?”, he turned his head, surprised.  
“Yes.”, Janus nodded, “You’re the first person to actually speak out against those peoples close minded behaviors. Everyone else just... pretended nothing happened. Including me.”  
“You’re sending me mixed signals here.”, Remus pointed out.  
“... The truth is-“, Janus actually spoke his true mind for once, “You intrigue me. And I don’t know why. I set up this guard for myself, making sure to push everyone away to avoid possibly getting hurt in the long run. Virgil and I had many fake friends, that’s why we usually stay by ourselves, because we’re the only people we trust. But it seems like... that you genuinely would like the become friends with me. If my words hurt you so bad yesterday, that must mean something.”  
“I guess that’s true.”, Remus scratched his neck.  
“I originally wanted to tell you once more to leave me alone.”, Janus walked towards the twin, “But you actually changed my mind. I would like to give this... friendship a chance and re-start from the beginning.”, he cleared his throat and held out a hand, “My name is Janus Damien Storm.”  
Remus glanced up and down between Janus’s face and his hand.  
It took a moment until Remus fully turned around and gave the other teen a small handshake.  
“Remus Duke Kingsley, nice to meet’cha.”

The general science club was guided by the principal himself.  
Logan greeted him with a firm “Good afternoon, Mr. Sanders!”, while Remus, back to his giddy old self, followed Logan like a second shadow.  
“I’m ready to blow things up!”, he cheered.  
“You know that science is more than just “blowing things up”, right?”, Logan questioned.  
“Oh, I know that!”, Remus waved it off, “I’m just in the mood for blowing things to bits!”  
“When aren’t you in the mood for that?”, Logan wondered.  
“Probs when I’m sleeping, heh.”, Remus snorted.  
“Ah, Remus.”, Mr. Sanders addressed the new student, “I was about to get to you anyway, you’re in detention.”  
“Riiiiiight.”, Remus clicked his tongue, “I forgot.”  
“Wait, you’re here for the club?”, the principal checked the list of club members, and indeed, Remus’s name had been on the list, “Oh, I didn’t think you were the science type of student. There goes my plan, huh.”  
“You wanted me to have detention here?”, Remus raised an eyebrow.  
“Yes, because I thought you’d be the kind of person to dislike extra curriculums like these.”, Mr. Sanders explained, “I was wrong for assuming, I’m sorry.”  
“So, what now?”, Remus shrugged.  
“Take a seat, you can participate as normal, we’ll talk about this after school.”  
“Haha, neat!”, Remus took a seat in the first row, next to Logan.  
“Lucky me, huh?”, he giggled.  
“I assume so.”, Logan nodded.

Aside from Remus almost detonating a smoke bomb in the classroom, the club meeting went by smoothly.  
Every student had left, aside from the twin.  
He stood at the teachers desk.  
“Okay, so.”, Mr. Sanders started, “Mx. Joan told me what happened yesterday during their class.”  
“I know, I shouldn’t have ripped her hair out-“  
“That’s not-“, the teacher stopped Remus from finishing his sentence, “While I’m glad you acknowledged that, that’s not what I wanted to discuss with you.”  
“It’s not?”, Remus asked surprised.  
“No. I’m just hoping, that your way of handling conflicts like these are going to be less violent from now on. You can always get a teacher involved.”  
“Yeah, that didn’t really work in my old school, so I’d rather handle that myself.”, Remus cracked his knuckles.  
“I-I see...”, Mr. Sanders nodded slowly, “I’ve been informed you’re very confrontational and honest.”  
“Yep!”, Remus said, emphasizing the p.  
“But still, I would ask you to not rip anyone’s hair out anymore. Or do any other things of those sorts.”  
“I’ll try.”, Remus pointed finger guns at the teacher, “But I can’t promise anything.”  
“If it gets too far, I would have to suspend you.”, Mr. Sanders unintentionally threatened. He hated suspending and expelling students, so he tried his best to make sure the students would behave.  
“We have a school counselor if you need someone to talk too as well.”, Mr. Sanders smiled.  
“Oh, don’t worry, I have my very own limited edition therapist.”, Remus grinned, “See ya tomorrow, teach!”, he threw up a peace sign and left the room, deciding that their conversation was over.

The first week of high school had passed.  
Monday morning.  
The boyfriends of a few days were surprised to see Roman entering the school building all by himself.  
“Good Morning Roman!”, Patton cheered.  
Roman yawned.  
“Morning guys...”, he slurred.  
“Are you okay?”, Logan wondered, “And where’s Remus?”  
“He’s.... sick.”, Roman clearly lied.  
Patton was the last person to question that statement though.  
“Did he have some night terrors again?”, Logan questioned with a slightly soft tone to his voice.  
“How-?”, Roman looked at the tall teen, confused.  
“You act like as if I didn’t spend weeks with him in the same room.”, Logan fixed his glasses.  
“Oh, right!”, Roman smacked his forehead, “Sorry, I’m so tired, I can’t think straight.”, Roman then chuckled, “Not that I was ever able to that, but you know. Remus and I stayed up all night, as you probably have noticed.”  
“I hope he’ll feel better soon.”, Patton stated, “We can bake some cookies later and come over!”  
“Marvelous idea!”, Roman smiled widely, “Distraction is what he needs right now!”  
“Actually, it’s sleep.”, Logan corrected, “But you’re right, some distraction would help too.”  
“Hopefully, he’s sleeping right now.”, Roman yawned again, “Maria’s back home to check on him regularly.”

Remus stretched his body and let out a groan as he woke up. He’d been fully covered by his blanket, the plush octopus Patton gifted him had been laying on his chest.  
He threw the blanket off himself when he sat up, letting the octo-plush roll from his body.  
Due to the blackout curtains it was rather dark in his room, however, the small open space from the door had let some daylight in. Plus his octopus tank also had some light.  
Remus checked his phone; he had gotten a new one plus new number over the weekend; for the time.  
“Huh. Almost time for lunch.”, Remus got out of his bed and stood up, instantly regretting that decision.  
He dropped back on his bed, holding his head.  
“Jesus fuck, who rammed a knife in there while I was sleeping?!”, he groaned a little too loud.  
He didn’t hear the footsteps coming up the stairs.  
“Remus, are you okay?”, Maria peeked her head in.  
“My head is killing me....”, Remus whined.  
“I’ll get you some pain killers.”, Maria informed her step-son.  
Remus gave a silent thumbs up.  
A few moments later, Maria had returned with a pill and some water.  
“Here you go.”, she placed them down on the little bed side table, “You need help sitting up?”  
“Hmmm....”, Remus mentally checked his head, “I think I’m good.”  
“Alright, if you need anything, just call me.”, Maria said calmly, “I’ll be making lunch in the meantime. How does baked potatoes sound?”  
“Of course we’re having potatoes when the German Bratwurst is in charge of cooking.”, Remus joked, making Maria chuckle.  
“Hey, if I wanted to go full German mode, I’d cook Sauerkraut.”, she joked back.  
“I don’t see the problem.”, Remus opened an eye, glancing at his step-mother, “Sauerkraut is hella delicious.”  
“Too bad we’re the only ones that think that way.”, Maria sarcastically cried.  
“The other two don’t know what’s truly delicious and what isn’t.”, Remus slowly sat up, grabbing the water and the pain killer.  
“I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”, Maria waved as she left the room, “Take a break and let the pain killer kicks in.”  
“Will do!”, Remus threw the pill in his mouth and chugged down the water in one gulp.

After another quick nap, Remus decided to head downstairs, skipping both showering and brushing his teeth once again.  
When he arrived in the living room, he saw Maria, sitting on the sofa, reading a magazine.  
Remus had been surprisingly kind to her.  
Some insults still slipped, but that was just a matter of self control, which Remus didn’t have much of.  
But at least he tried.  
“Heya, Maria.”, he greeted while jumping on the free spot next to the woman.  
“You seem to be feeling better.”, Maria smiled.  
“Drugs, am I right?”, Remus put his arms behind his head.  
Maria chuckled.  
“You know, I’m glad you’re able to crack jokes with me.”, she then stated calmly, “You’re been generally much kinder to me. Thank you.”  
“Well...”, Remus started to blush out of embarrassment, “I was... recently given a second chance, so... why not give you one too?”  
“I appreciate it a lot, Remus.”, Maria gave the twin a small smile. If he saw it or not was hard to tell, Remus avoided eye contact at all costs.  
“You’re still not gonna replace dad.”, he quickly uttered.  
“Of course not.”, Maria flipped a page in her magazine, “That’s not my plan.”  
“... Can I, like, talk to you... about him?”, Remus wondered.  
“Oh.”, Maria closed her magazine, “Of course you can. If you’re comfortable enough with it.”  
“I’m never comfortable with talking about that topic, but I need to get it out of my system somehow.”, Remus dropped his arms beside his lap, “It’s dad’s death anniversary soon.”  
“I know.”, Maria took a brave step and went ahead to rub Remus’s upper arm with comfort. He didn’t seem to mind.  
“That... was what my night terrors last night were about. As always.”, he explained further, “But it feels like, whenever they re-occur, they get worse.”

_There used to be a time Remus got up in the morning before his brother. Willingly._   
_Mainly so that he can watch his father Romulus prepare his favorite breakfast._   
_Pancakes tasted best when they were fresh out of the pan._   
_The eleven year old ran into the kitchen with full excitement._   
_Still in his pajamas, but teeth were freshly brushed nonetheless._   
_“Morning dad!”, Remus cheered._   
_“Good morning, Rem!”, Romulus’s deep but kind voice boomed through the kitchen, “Ready for some Rodriguez-Kingsley special pancakes?”_   
_“As always!”, Remus smiled widely._   
_“You wanna help me out, little chef?”, Romulus pat his sons head, ruffling his hair._   
_“Yes!”, Remus jumped up and down._   
_“Alright then, Chef Remus, you grab the bowls while I get the ingredients.”_   
_“Aye aye captain!”, Remus started rummaging in the lower cupboards right away._   
_Romulus turned around, wanting to get the flour and the sugar from the top cupboard behind him._   
_When he lifted his arm to open said cupboard however, he felt a sting in his body._   
_Which was the last thing he had ever felt._   
_Roman and Anne came rushing downstairs to a crying Remus, who tried waking his unconscious father on the kitchen floor._   
_It was never clear, what the reason of Romulus’s death had been. Anne refused the autopsy. But whatever it was, it was instant._

_That was the start of Remus’s downwards spiral._

Remus silently cried, legs hugged to his body. A few sniffles escaped his nose every few seconds.  
“D-do you think-“, he broke his silence with a few hiccups, “Do you think, if- if I manage to m-move on... the terrors will stop?”  
Maria sighed.  
“Sadly, I can’t tell you that.”, she breathed.  
“Argh, fuck...”, Remus wiped away his tears with the back of his hand, “I need distraction... This was a bad idea....”  
“How about I’ll teach you some German cuss words?”, Maria suggested, “I’m sure you’d be interested.”  
Remus looked at her with eyes wide open, showing clear interest. It was as if Remus hadn’t cried just now.  
“For real?!”, he asked.  
“Just don’t tell your mom, hehe.”, she finally put the magazine, she’d been holding, aside.  
“Which one?”, escaped Remus’s mouth before he covered it quickly.  
“Oh-“, however, Maria caught the slip up.  
Ever since Maria and Anne had gotten married, Remus refused to call Maria “mom”. He was never forced to do so in the first place, but he made his point clear every time whenever Roman referred to Maria as their mother, that Maria wasn’t that.  
This was the first time he acknowledged her as his other mother, despite it being unintentional.  
“You didn’t hear that.”, Remus muttered through his hand.  
Maria giggled, but went along.  
“Didn’t hear what?”, she asked, fully indicating that she understood what Remus said.  
“Exactly.”, the twin dropped his hand, “So, about those cuss words...”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang's planning a little sleep over, and need to convince Janus and Virgil to join.  
> Well, Remus took it upon him to convince them.
> 
> Trigger warnings: mentions of drug use and overdose, near death experience, hallucinations, mentions of death

“Alright, students, take a seat!”, Mx. Joan called out to the members of the theater club.  
“I brought the scrips and the playlist for the actors, and some mood boards for the scenery painters. I will hand out the scripts, and what I want you guys to do is go through the lines a bit and start practicing!”, they explained.  
It took a little until the teacher had finished handing out the thick stacks of papers to each student.  
However, two stacks were left.  
“Huh, odd...”, they glanced between the stacks.  
“Yeah, Mx. Joan?”, a girl raised her hand.  
“Yes, Kimberly?”, the teacher called.  
“Ashley quit.”, Kimberly filled in.  
“Ah.”, Mx. Joan nodded, “And she didn’t bother to tell me personally?”  
“Yeah.”, Kimberly shrugged, “She’s in the Volleyball club now.”  
“Understood. I guess I need to cast someone else for her role then. But that doesn’t explain why I have two scripts left.”  
“Excuse me, Mx. Joan?”, this time, Roman raised his hand.  
“Yes, Roman?”  
“My brother is sick today, that’s probably the reason why you have two scripts left.”, the teen quickly elaborated.  
Janus, who already started reading his lines, looked up from the stack of paper when he heard that Remus had been absent. He turned his head, checking for himself and indeed. Roman had been alone, which was an unusual sight, unless the twins had different classes of course.  
“That makes sense.”, Mx. Joan walked up to Roman, “Can I give you a second script for him then?”  
“Of course!”, Roman smiled, trying to hide his tiredness, while he took a second stack of paper.  
“Now that that’s taken care of, you’re free to practice and rehearse your lines, while I talk to the scenery painters!”, Mx. Joan went back towards the stage, where the other half of their students had been waiting.  
Janus instantly made his way to Roman. Not only will the twin be Janus’s main acting partner for the day, he’d also been curious to know what’s up with Remus. Not that he would ever openly admit that. He had his ways to get information without actually asking for it directly.  
When Janus took a seat next to Roman, the latter had been yawning and stretching his arms.  
“You seem to have gotten a lot of sleep.”, Janus remarked sarcastically.  
“Well, I didn’t.”, Roman didn’t catch on, “But that won’t stop me from practicing our lines. Even if it’s only two thirds of the main characters.”  
“So it seems.”, Janus nodded.  
“He should be back tomorrow though.”, Roman started flipping through the pages.  
“I see.”, Janus did the same.  
“...”, Roman glanced at his theater partner, “Aren’t you curious or worried or anything?”

_I am._

“About what?”, Janus, without looking away from the script, raised an eyebrow.  
“Remus...?”, Roman answers half confused, “Well, you said he’s sick, didn’t you?”, Janus reminded.  
“Well, yeah, but friends usually worry about their sick friends, at least.”, Roman shrugged.  
“Is that so?”, Janus said. He fully knew that, but didn’t want to admit to it.  
“You know what?”, Roman waved his hand, “Let’s forget about that and just practice the lines.”  
The practice had been awkward. Roman didn’t think he’d ever be in good terms with Janus. He thought the other teen had been too snarky and ignorant.  
Janus had a different opinion on Roman. Still negative though. He thought Romans ego was too strong and he needed a reality check every once in a while.  
They still tried to make it work. Both had a passion for acting after all.  
What does Remus see in him, Roman thought.

The last bell for the day rang. The students slowly shuffled outside.  
Roman spotted the cab he was supposed to be picked up in.  
Maria and Remus sat in the front.  
Roman made a dash, trying to keep the time his family had to wait for him short, despite him being tired.  
“Glad to see you’re doing better.”, he smiled at his brother while taking a seat in the back.  
“I had good lunch, that’s why.”, Remus indirectly gave Maria a compliment for her cooking.  
“That’s splendid!”, Roman cheered.  
From afar, Remus spotted Janus. Joy filled his body.  
“YO! DEE!”, Remus yelled from the car, waving.  
However, Janus didn’t react to that.  
“JANUS!”, Remus yelled again.  
Janus looked up, seeing Remus waving at him.  
“And you’re really trying to be friends with him?”, Virgil, who had been walking next to Janus, asked concerned.  
“Yes.”, Janus replied, stoic, while waving back, “He’s surprisingly energetic for being sick.”  
“He probably just wanted to skip school.”, Virgil shrugged, “He seems to be the kind of person to do that.”  
“Possibly.”, Janus dropped his wave, “But that’s his problem, not mine.”

Patton and Logan, as promised, baked some cookies and visited the Kingsleys on the same day.  
Anne and Maria even offered them to stay for dinner.  
“Wow, Patton, these cookies are delicious!”, Anne complimented the teens baking.  
“Thank you!”, he smiled widely, “My mom owns a bakery, she taught me everything I know about baking!”  
“You should try baking weed brownies.”, Remus suggested with a wink.  
“I-“, Patton was speechless.  
“Just kidding!”, Remus laughed, “Coke is much more fun anyways.”  
“Remus-!”, Anne scolded.  
“Still joking!”, Remus waved with his hands.

_One moment the 14 year old was at a rave; he had a fake ID to get in in the first place; the next moment, he found himself on the ground, laughing at the swirly colors and distorted surroundings._  
_His heart was beating so fast, it almost felt like it wasn’t beating at all._  
_Blood came from his nose, but he didn’t bother wiping it away._  
_“Heh...”, he giggled._  
_“Oh, Remus!”, a male voice greeted the teen._  
_“Heyyyy dad.”, Remus greeted back._  
_“Glad to see you’re paying me a visit again.”, Romulus smiled, taking a seat next to his son._  
_“Hehe, yeah.”, Remus slurred, “Must be pretty boring on the other side.”_  
_“It is.”, Romulus nodded, “You’re stuck there forever after all. And the things you can do are pretty limited.”_  
_“Well, looks like I’m joinin’ ya.”, Remus laughed again._  
_“You said that last the time already.”, Romulus sighed._  
_“Hey, it’s not my fault mom found me bleeding out in the bathroom on time.”, Remus waved his hand in the air. Well, he thought he did. It felt like he did._  
_“But don’t worry dad, I’m somewhere off in a rancid club, faaaaar away from mom and Roman.”, Remus giggled, “We can make pancakes again.”_  
_“You don’t have to eat once you’re dead, you know that, right?”, Romulus pointed out._  
_“Yeah, but we can throw the pancakes at other dead bitches.”_  
_“Wouldn’t that be a bit wasteful?”_  
_“Hey, we’re dead, who cares?”_  
_“Wrong.”, Romulus corrected, “I’m dead. You’re on your way.”_  
_“Awww, are you my guide to the other side?”_  
_“Your g-u-i-d-e to the other side.”_  
_“Can’t wait to get there...”, Remus muttered._  
_“... Are you sure you want to come over?”, Romulus threw in, “I honestly don’t think you’d like it in the afterlife.”_  
_“Hey you’re there, aren’t you?”, Remus wanted to pat his fathers leg, but missed by a lot._  
_“But Roman and Anne aren’t.”, Romulus countered._  
_“Oh, fuck them.”, Remus scowled, “They betrayed us by bringing that slut Maria in and accepting her.”_  
_“They would be pretty devastated if you also left them behind.”, the father slumped his shoulders, “I didn’t have much of a choice. But you can still pull through.”_  
_“Yeah, I don’t think the amount of cocaine and other shit in my system agrees to that.”_  
_“... I’m not actually real, you know that, right?”, Romulus burst the bubble._  
_“Yeah...”_  
_“Try to wake up, will ya?”_  
_“Huh?”_  
_“I said, wake up.”_  
_“But-“_  
_“Wake up!”_

“Hey, dinner won’t be ready for another eternity or whatever, let’s play some video games.”, Remus suggested.  
“Watcha got?”, Patton wondered.  
“A better question would be, what don’t we have.”, Roman opened the doors of the TV table, revealing a whole bunch of different CD cases with video games.  
“From party, to horror, to RPG, we have anything your little gamer heart desires.”, Roman sung.  
“I’m in the mood for some horror.”, Remus jumped on the sofa.  
“You’re always in the mood for horror, those are your games after all.”, Roman mocked.  
Logan took a seat on the sofa as well, leaving space in the middle for Patton.  
However, Patton had a different idea.  
“Can I sit on your lap?”, he asked his boyfriend.  
Logan’s breath stopped for a second. He should have expected such a suggestion, Patton had been very cuddly ever since they got together. Well, more cuddly than he had been before.  
“Uh- O-Of course.”, Logan gave his permission.  
“Yay, thank you!”, Patton carefully shuffled his way onto Logan’s lap, trying not to hurt him. Logan hesitated, but once the tinier teen leaned back, Logan wrapped his hands around Patton’s waist.  
“Hm. Pretty gay.”, Remus ruined the mood with his comment.  
“You’re correct.”, Logan, with a blush on his face, glanced at Remus.  
“While you two are cuddling it up over there, I went ahead and picked a game all of us can play at the same time.”, Roman held up a CD case, showing the game to the others.  
“You really want me to beat your ass in Mario Kart?”, Remus shot a challenging glare at his twin.  
“Oh hohohoho.”, Roman chuckled deeply, “As if you could beat me, Duke of the Sewers.”  
“Watch me, Prince Car Crash!”, Remus threatened in good fun.  
What the twins weren’t aware of, was that out of all people, Logan was the one who, in Remus’s words, beat everyones asses.  
Logan explained that, all he did was logically picking the best assets for his cart, and, by analyzing the mini-map each round, he calculated the best way to race through them the fastest.  
After a few rounds more, dinner was ready.  
“We should really do a sleepover sometime.”, Patton suggested while taking a seat at the table.  
“Oh, I love that idea!”, Roman cheered.  
“Haven’t had one in a while.”, Remus, taking a seat next to his brother, commented, “We could invite Dee and his weird emo brother.”  
“Dee?”, Roman questioned confused.  
“You mean Janus?”, Logan concluded.  
“Yeah!”, Remus smiled.  
“But... why Dee?”, Roman wondered.  
“His second name is Damien.”, Remus filled in, “That makes him and I Double Dee, heh.”  
“Hmm, I doubt Janus and Virgil are up for this...”, Patton pouted, “They’re not too big on social gatherings. Trust me, I tried.”  
“I’m not surprised that you tried to be friends with them, heh.”, Roman chuckled.  
“I’m gonna try.”, Remus accepted the challenge, “I want at least Dee to come.”

That was his first mission the next day.  
Remus eagerly looked for Janus, with no success.  
“Aw, man...”, he sighed, joining his usual friend group in the hallway in front of Patton’s locker.  
“Couldn’t find him?”, Patton asked.  
“Yeah, I hope they’re not sick.”, Remus scratched his chin.  
“I may have an idea where they could be.”, Roman smiled, “Follow me.”  
“Kay-Kay.”, Remus agreed.  
He then quickly put his attention to Logan and Patton.  
“Y’all can go and make out in the janitors closet or something’.”, he jokingly suggested making the couple blush instantly.  
“Come on, Sir No-mance!”, Roman rushed his twin.  
Roman led Remus outside and around the building, to the hide out Virgil lead him to last time.  
And bingo, the Storm brothers resided there, sitting in the grass, chatting.  
“Knock, knock.”, Roman knocked against a tree, making Virgil jump, and Janus turn his head.  
“How the-“, Janus uttered.  
“Why are you here?!”, Virgil yelled angrily.  
“We were looking for you.”, Roman smiled, inviting himself and Remus into the hide out.  
“How did you find this place?”, Janus hissed angrily.  
Virgil hid himself inside his oversized hood.  
“Virgil?”, Janus instantly caught onto his brothers little move.  
“Like I said-“, Roman took a seat, “We were looking for you. And Remus had the idea to check back here.”  
Remus knew that that was a lie.  
So did Virgil.  
But both decided to shut up, to not anger Janus and more.  
“Well, you can leave then.”, Janus crossed his arms.  
“Hey, is that how you greet friends?”, Remus also took a seat, a little too close to Janus.  
“I forgot I was doing this.”, Janus, obviously lying, muttered annoyed, “But speaking of “friends”, where have you been yesterday?”  
“Oh, I had no energy to get here.”, Remus waved it off, “The ghost of my dead dad haunted me the night prior.”  
Remus made it sound much more harmless, than it actually was.  
“I... see.”, Janus pretended to understand, “I’m glad to see that you’re feeling better.”  
That wasn’t even a lie this time.  
But the others didn’t know.  
They probably didn’t even question the validity of that statement.  
“You’re not going to spend every break possible here, are you?”, Janus interrogated he twins.  
“Only if you’re here, heh.”, Remus cheered, blushing a little.  
Janus ignored that.  
“Is there anything you want?”, Virgil, who still kept the hood on, uttered annoyed.  
“Oh, yeah!”, Remus perked up, “You guys wanna join our sleepover this weekend? Patton and Logan are there too!”  
“No.”, Virgil straight up denied. He hoped for his brother to do the same, however Janus had been contemplating.  
“I’ll... think about it.”, he decided to tell the twins.  
Virgil mouthed a silent “What the fuck, dude?!”.  
“Neato!”, Remus took off his backpack and placed it in front of him. He quickly opened the zipper to the main compartment and started rummaging.  
“What are you-“, Janus wanted to ask, but was interrupted by Remus grabbing his wrist. The latter had found a pen in his bag and wrote something down on Janus’s palm.  
“Just call me or something whenever you made a decision.”, Remus finished writing the last digit, “I finally have a phone again.”  
“Uhm... thank you.”, Janus looked at his hand.  
To him, the phone number was written upside down. But still decipherable.  
“Do we want to know what happened to your old phone?”, Virgil snarked.  
“Trashed and almost burned in our fire place.”, Remus carelessly threw his pen back in his backpack and closed the zipper.  
“Of course you’d do such a thing...”, the boy with the purple hair uttered.  
“Hey, okay, so, uhm, fuck you.”, Remus pointed at Virgil, “I had a good reason to destroy that damn thing. But that’s-“, he stood up and threw his bag on, “- nunya business, emo.”  
“Did I hit a soft spot, trash man?”, Virgil countered.  
“Funny.”, Remus chuckled, “I’m never soft. Toodles!”, he waved and left the group.  
Roman sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fingers.  
“Honestly, I respect that you can keep up with his antics like that.”, Virgil commented, putting his hood back down; it was getting too warm under that thing, “And you’re really expecting us to show up at your weird little sleepover.”  
“I understand your concern.”, Roman went through his hair with his hand, “But in his defense, there really was a good reason why he destroyed his old phone. He didn’t do it for laughs. He’s just... trying to move on from his past.”  
“That’s something him and I seem to have in common...”, Janus thought out loud carelessly.  
Virgil and Roman shot a worried glance at the blond teen.  
“Oh, uhm-“, Janus cleared his throat, “Don’t-“  
He didn’t even know how to verbally save his little slip up, so he just waved with his hands, to metaphorically wave the thick air away.  
“Okay...”, Roman furrowed his eyebrows, “I’ll leave the two of you alone then.”  
With that, the twin got up and left the brothers alone.  
“Janus, are you okay?”, Virgil asked carefully.  
“Yes.”, a lie, “It was just a little careless slip up, no need to dwell on it.”  
“Really?”, Virgil asked again, just to make sure.  
Janus sighed.  
“It’s... the usual.”, he elaborated, “It’s hard to let the past go sometimes. Every now and again, something triggers your memory and you’re reminded of the cruel things you went through.”  
“But you know you’re safe with us, right?”, Virgil tried to make sure.  
“Of course.”, truth, “For one, my birth father would have never let me discover my true self the way I did. He’d probably still call me by my dead name just out of pure spite. It’s been six years since I last saw him and his weird girlfriend that birthed me, and six years may be a long time, but I will probably remember some cruel moments until the end of my time.”  
Unlike Janus, Virgil didn’t know his parents.  
Casper and Erika adopted him when he was just a few months old.  
All he had of his biological parents was an old picture and the knowledge that they weren’t wandering on this earth anymore.  
It was a car crash small baby Virgil had magically survived.  
He had distant family, however none of them either wanted to take Virgil in, or were in no capacity to take care of him. So he didn’t bother looking for them. Why should he, he had is family with Casper, Erika and Janus.  
So orphanage it had been. But he didn’t stick there for too long, as eventually his current patents came around and adopted him.  
They never made it a secret that Virgil was adopted. It was quite obvious actually.  
Aside from the fact, that Erika was physically not able to bear children, neither parent had Virgils natural hair color, which was basic middle brown, nor eye color, which was also a shade of brown. However, it was so dark, it could have almost been black. Of course, those weren’t the only things that didn’t match, but those were the most obvious ones.  
They even celebrated his day of adoption like a second birthday; they did the same with Janus too, of course.  
Of course, people teased Virgil for being adopted.  
However, his response had always been “At least my parents wanted me on purpose.”, just to bark something back at the bullies.  
Morally, not the right thing to say, but being bullied for being an orphan essentially wasn’t fun either. At least that’s how Virgil used to justify it.  
Nowadays, the others didn’t care enough about Virgil to say anything, considering his status as adopted son didn’t bother him at all, making that a point no one could have attacked anymore.  
They mostly attacked him for other things though.  
“You know, it’s on _sight_ when I see your birth parents, right?” Virgil balled his fists.  
Janus chuckled.  
“While I do appreciate your confidence, I know for a fact you wouldn’t beat my birth parents.”, he explained.  
“Okay, true.”, Virgil dropped his fists, “I’d most likely chicken out. Just send Duke Wierdo after them, I’m sure he’d have a blast.”  
“For sure, he would.”, Janus agreed with a nod.  
He then glanced at his palm again, reading the number Remus had written down.  
“... I swear, if this is waterproof-“

It was.  
Janus still had the phone number on his palm a few days later.  
He took his time until the very last moment to finally make a decision.  
Friday afternoon, the day prior to the sleepover, Remus received a text.

SnakeDad: Remus? It’s me, Janus.

Remus gasped at his phone, instantly texting back.

Dukey: o hey dee  
Dukey: glad 2 see u finally got around 2 text me hehe  
SnakeDad: “Dee”?  
Dukey: my nickname for ya!!!  
SnakeDad: But... why use my second name for that?  
Dukey: I dunno  
Dukey: maybe cuz my 2nd name also starts with a Dee heh  
SnakeDad: True.  
SnakeDad: Anyways, the reason I am texting you, is because I would like to engage in your little event.

Remus squealed with excitement upon reading Janus’s newest message.

Dukey: HELL YEAH!!!!!  
SnakeDad: Only if I can bring Virgil too that is.  
Dukey: sure of course we have plenty of space  
Dukey: im surprised he wants 2 tag along  
SnakeDad: He doesn’t like the idea of me being at a strangers house all by myself.  
Dukey: what are u? 5? also im ur friend like wtf

“My friend...”, Janus thought out loud.

SnakeDad: I still never visited you or your family at your home.  
Dukey: ya gotta point  
SnakeDad: Your way of texting offends me.  
Dukey: u sound like smartie specs  
SnakeDad: I assume that’s Logan.  
Dukey: 💯💯💯  
SnakeDad: Oh, please, I hate emojis.  
Dukey: 😱😵😞  
SnakeDad: Stop it, before I change my mind.  
Dukey: okay okay imma stop  
SnakeDad: I would need your address, if you want us to find our way to your place.  
Dukey: OH RIGHT yeah one sex  
SnakeDad:... You did not just write that.  
Dukey: huh  
Dukey: OH  
Dukey: i meant sec lmaoooo

“Jesus Christ....”, Janus exhaled.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sleepover time!  
> Lots of fluff in this chapter, but there are still a few things that need a trigger warning.
> 
> Trigger warnings: mentions of drug abuse, transphobia (in a flashback), mentions of death, mentions of near death experience, mentions of non-con

Patton hummed a happy tune while setting up the things he needed for baking cupcakes.  
He’d been extremely excited for the sleepover and wanted the bring the utmost best snacks he could provide.  
Which were cupcakes in his eyes.  
A small bark came from the kitchen door.  
“No, Fluffball, you can’t help!”, Patton scolded lightly, “You don’t have any thumbs, you can’t hold anything!”  
Fluffball plead with a whimper.  
“I’m sorry, you silly kiddo, you can’t!”  
“Patton?”, Logan came around the corner, wondering what Patton had been on about.  
“Heya, Logie!”, Patton smiled, “I’m making cupcakes but Fluffball won’t leave me alone, heh.”, Patton walked towards the door to softy hush Fluffball away.  
The canine playfully ran past Logan and in to the living room.  
“I assume the cupcakes are for tomorrow.”, Logan fixed his glasses.  
“Yup!”, Patton made his way back to the counter, “You wanna help?”  
“Uhm...”, Logan entered the kitchen, but crossed his arms in front of his chest, “I do not have... any baking abilities.”  
“Oh, that’s okay, I can teach you!”, Patton waved his boyfriend over, “It’s really easy!”  
Logan made his way to the counter as well, eyeing the various ingredients and utensils.  
“Okay.”, Logan agreed to working with Patton, “Where’s the recipe?”  
Patton pat his own chest.  
“I know it by _Hart_.”, he chuckled.  
Logan exhaled.  
“I need to walk that one off.”, he turned around, ready to leave.  
“No, I’m sorry, haha!”, Patton laughed while grabbing Logan’s upper arm, “Please stay!”  
“Alright, heh.”, Logan let out a small chuckle as well.  
“Yay!”, Patton cheered, “Okay, you can mix the dry ingredients.”  
Apparently, Patton wanted to start right away. He pushed the bigger bowl over to Logan, and held up a few measuring cups.  
The black haired teen slowly grabbed the measuring cups.  
“Start with the flour, you gotta sift that while measuring.”, Patton guided his baking partner through the steps.

Eventually, the huge batch of cupcakes; well, muffins to be more precise, as they haven’t been decorated yet; made it into the oven. While Patton was highly satisfied, Logan seemed slightly ticked off.  
“What’s the matter, Logan?”, Patton noticed his partners negative attitude.  
“I’m never doing this again.”, Logan pointed at his shirt, “Too much dirt.”  
“What?”, Patton exclaimed sadly, “But you did amazing! I could get you an apron, if you want.”  
“That... would be an adequate compromise.”, Logan nodded, “It was fun. But I do not like the chaos that ensued.”  
“Yeah, I get that.”, Patton started putting the first utensils in the sink, “A lot of people don’t like to bake because of that. But I don’t mind cleaning afterwards.”  
“May I help?”, Logan wondered.  
“Of course!”, Patton smiled.

After the muffins had cooled off, it was time to decorate them.  
“Mom brought some leftover sugar cookies from the bakery, they’re small enough to be used as decoration.”, Patton grabbed a Tupperware box filled with cookies.  
“Great idea.”, Logan complimented.  
“Thanks!”, Patton placed the box on the counter.  
He took a breather.  
“Okay, I’ll do the frosting part and you do the decorating part.”, Patton suggested.  
Placing things inside the frosting shouldn’t be a hard task, Logan thought. He nodded in agreement.  
“Is there any particular way you want me to decorate them?”, he asked.  
“I usually decorate it however I feel like.”, Patton shrugged, “As long as it’s not too over the top and it doesn’t fall apart, it doesn’t really matter.”  
“Understood.”, Logan opened the box of cookies and pushed them a bit aside, to leave space for the upcoming cupcakes.  
“We also have sprinkles and chocolate chips in the cupboard above you if you want to sprinkle some on.”, Patton told Logan while getting the frosting out of the fridge.  
He had already put it in a piping bag, to save time.  
He closed the fridge with his hip and made his way over to the undecorated cupcakes.  
He started decorating them by putting just a little frosting in the middle of each. They would help him build up the classic cupcake swirl.  
Logan was impressed at how fast and precise Patton was with his craft.  
Once he had every cupcake dotted, he moved onto the swirls. Within seconds, he finished the first three treats, making a “boop” noise every time he finished one.  
Logan snapped out of his small trance and started decorating the fully frosted cupcakes.  
He usually went for the same decorating formula. First he either put chocolate chips or sprinkles on, and then a cookie on the top. Simple, but it worked.  
However he wasn’t able to keep up with his boyfriend.  
“Wait, slow down, please.”, he asked.  
“Oh! My bad, hehe.”, Patton put the piping bag down for now, “Lemme help.”  
He took over the sprinkles while Logan made sure the cookies found their place.  
Logan was then reminded about the one time Remus referred to Patton as “Sprinkles”. It made him smile a little.  
“Enjoying yourself?”, Patton asked.  
“Huh?”, Logan perked up, away from the baked goods, facing Patton.  
“You’re smiling all sheepishly.”, Patton said in a soft tone, “I was just wondering, you know?”  
“Uh, yes, I do quite enjoy myself.”, Logan nodded.  
“Well, you should pay more attention though, otherwise you’ll be the cupcake.”, Patton laughed, brining Logan’s attention back to the cupcake.  
He pushed the cookie in a bit too far, making his fingers dirty.  
“Ah...”, Logan pulled his hand back, “I’m sorry.”  
“Hey, it’s okay, heh.”, Patton took the slightly destroyed cupcake, “Stuff like that happens, even to professionals.”  
“But still, I should have paid more attention.”, Logan glanced at his hands, “I should probably wash my hand.”  
“Try the frosting instead of washing it off!”, Patton suggested.  
“Patton, I’ve eaten your baked goods many times, I know what it tastes like.”, Logan argued.  
“Yeah, but that way you don’t waste the frosting.”, Patton countered, “You can wash your hands after you tasted the frosting!”  
“You’re right.”, Logan licked one of his fingers, accidentally getting some frosting on the corner of his mouth.  
“Ah, you, uh-“, Patton pointed at Logan’s little mishap.  
“Hm?”, the taller teen raised an eyebrow.  
Patton grabbed Logan’s shoulders, bending him down by a lot. He was over a head taller than Patton after all.  
“What are you-“, Logan wanted to ask, but was interrupted by the small kiss on the corner of his mouth.  
In his head, the windows error sound played over and over again, his face overheating and overcome with a red fluster.

_Why...?_   
_This is what romantic partners do._   
_Right?_

Patton pulled back, not letting go of Logan’s shoulders yet.  
Logan blinked a few times, trying to snap back to reality.  
“Oh no...”, Patton quickly let go of the taller teens shoulders and took a step back, “I overstepped your boundaries, didn’t I?”  
“Huh...?”, escaped Logan’s mouth before he finally came back to reality.  
He quickly shook his head.  
“No, you’re fine, I’m fine, I-“, Logan took a deep breath, “I didn’t expect you to do that, that’s all. I still need to get used to all that new romantic affection.”  
“Really?”, Patton asked softly, to make sure.  
“Really.”, Logan nodded, straightening his posture.  
“I’m glad.”, the smaller teen sighed with relief, “Should I ask you every time or...?”  
“No.”, Logan denied, “Unless I state otherwise. But thank you for making sure.”

Saturday afternoon.  
Preparations were made at the Kingsleys house.  
“Okay, we‘ll be out for dinner, and afterwards for the movies.”, Anne explained to her sons while putting her jacket on, “If you need anything, money for food is on the coffee table, and our phones are always turned on.”  
“When will you two be back?”, Roman asked.  
“Sometime past midnight.”, Anne closed her jacket, “We’ll probably head to bed right after, so you don’t have to worry about us disturbing you guys.”  
“And remember, not too much junk food.”, Maria added. It was more directed at Remus though.  
“As if the huge ass bowl of fruit salad in the fridge wouldn’t make that clear enough.”, Remus, who laid on the sofa, checking his phone, yelled.  
“Try and have some.”, Anne giggled, “It’s really good.”  
“Well, see you later!”, Maria opened the door and held it open for her wife.  
“Have fun!”, Anne waved as she left the house.  
Maria silently waved, with a smile, as well.  
“Hello Mrs and Mrs Kingsley!”, Patton, who just walked up to the house with Logan by his side, greeted the mothers.  
“Hey you two!”, Maria greeted back, keeping the door open, “Come in!”  
“Thank you!”, Patton was the first to prance in.  
Logan followed, giving a thanking nod.  
Once the two guests were inside, the parents closed the door behind them and left.  
“Yay, you’re here!”, Roman cheered.  
“I brought cupcakes!”, Patton held up the box he had been holding, “Logan and I made them together!”  
“You can put them to the other snacks in the kitchen.”, Roman pointed over to the counter full with bags of chips and lemonade, “And your bags can be put next to the staircase for now.”  
While the two guests put the things were Roman told them to put them, Roman walked over to Remus, trying to get him to sit up and not hog all the place on the sofa.  
“Move those stinky feet.”, he ordered.  
“Only if you kiss them.”, Remus, not looking away from his phone, lifted a leg.  
“No thank you.”, Roman pushed the leg back down, “God knows who when you washed those last.”  
“Hey, I took a shower this morning!”, Remus defended himself, lifting his leg back up, “Here, smell!”  
“Again, no thank you.”, Roman pushed the leg down once more, “I believe you. Even if it’s hard to do so, knowing you.”  
“It’s a special occasion, isn’t it?”, Remus shrugged.  
“Indeed it is.”, Roman nodded, “It’s been years since our last sleepover with others.”  
Roman then noticed Logan and Patton coming back from getting rid of their stuff.  
“Now make space, lazy Duke.”, he scolded his brother.  
“Pfffftb!”, Remus stuck his tongue out.  
“Alright then.”, Roman walked over to one end of the sofa, grabbing onto Remus’s ankles and pulling him off the couch. At least partly to make space for Logan and Patton.  
Remus ended up laying on an armrest with his legs dangling off of it.  
“That’s okay too.”, he muttered.  
“How long have you been staring on your phone now?”, Roman crossed his arms.  
“I dunno.”, Remus replied in a bored tone.  
“What’s so interesting anyways?”, the other twin asked.  
“Nothing.”, Remus said, “I just wanna be available just in case Dee texts me.”  
While Remus was glued to his phone, still, Patton and Logan took a seat at the now free spot on the sofa. Once again, Patton wondered if he could sit on Logan’s lap. The latter accepted naturally.  
Roman was the only one still standing. He wanted to be a good party host and offered everyone something to drink.  
Logan was fine, so was Remus. Patton however asked if he could have some soda.  
“Coming right up!”, Roman exclaimed while making his way to the kitchen, “Remus, you could turn on some music, will you?”  
“I caaaaaan’t.”, Remus groaned, “I told you I-“  
Remus was interrupted by the doorbell. He instantly jumped up.  
“Never mind!”, he yelled as he made a dash for the front door.  
As he ecstatically opened it, he saw the two people he’d been hoping to see.  
Janus and Virgil.  
“Aye, you found it!”, he smiled, “Come in!”  
“Thank you.”, Janus nodded while walking inside. Virgil closely followed his brother, remaining quiet.  
“Hey guys!”, Patton waved from the sofa.  
The brothers waved back.  
“I assume we can put our bags over there?”, Janus pointed at the luggage the first two guests have brought with them.  
“Yeah!”, Remus smiled, “If you wanna drink something, Roman is still in the kitchen.”  
The Storm brothers walked towards the bags, carefully dropping theirs next to them. Virgils bag made a few shaky metallic sounds.  
“I, uhm...”, Virgil finally spoke up, “I brought a whole bunch of energy drinks. If you guys want one.”  
“Too unhealthy.”, Logan instantly denied.  
“I can’t handle caffeine well, sorry.”, Patton smiled apologetically, “But thanks for the offer nonetheless.”  
“I’m not allowed to have those.”, Remus threw in.  
That statement had been the most confusing out of all to Janus and Virgil.  
“You’re what?”, Virgil squinted his eyes at Remus.  
“I’m not allowed to have them.”, Remus repeated the core of his previous statement again, “I’m not allowed to break my diet too much, which fucking sucks, and uppers are generally a no.”  
“Uppers...?”, Janus muttered to himself.  
“But does that count for caffeine too?”, Patton wondered.  
“Hey, technically, that shit is just as addicting as any drug out there.”, Remus pointed out.  
“True.”, Virgil agreed.  
“True.”, so did Logan.  
Both were speaking of experience.  
Logan loved coffee, just plain, black coffee.  
Virgil wasn’t that different. Although he would throw tons of milk and sugar in his coffee. Alongside that, cola and energy drinks fueled his need for caffeine as well.  
Remus used to have the same addiction. But eventually, coffee and caffeinated soft drinks didn’t cut it anymore.  
So coke it was.  
And not the cola kind.

Despite the tension being somewhat tense at first, Janus and Virgil found themselves to enjoy the company.  
Even though Roman and Janus still didn’t seem to like each other, but pretended they did.  
Same with Virgil and Remus.  
Remus had no problem with the purple haired boy, it was a one sided hate more or less, coming from Virgil.  
Some of the snacks had been eaten at this point.  
Virgil was on his third energy drink, noticeable by how shivery he had been holding his UNO cards.  
“I wish for yellow.”, Janus laid down a rainbow colored card.  
“PERFECT!”, Remus, who had his turn after Janus, yelled, “Take that, Prince Mushy Guts!”, Remus threw down a yellow draw two card.  
“Why must you betray your own brother like that?!”, Roman acted dramatically while drawing two new cards from the deck.  
“I’ll stop if you admit, that I’m the older one, heh.”, Remus teased.  
“Never.”, Roman pouted, putting down a yellow 7.  
“Wait, you don’t know who the older twin is?”, Janus questioned.  
“Only one person in our family knew, who the older twin is.”, Roman explained, “But... well, he took that secret to his grave.”  
“I still think it’s me.”, Remus threw in, “Dad named me “Duke” after all, Princey.”  
“That doesn’t mean anything!”, Roman argued.  
“How about I get my Oujia board and we can give dad a call, huh?”, Remus suggested.  
“And that’s where we stop.”, Roman held up his free hand, “No summoning ghosts.”  
“What?”, Remus raised his eyebrow mischievously, “Scared, pussy?”  
“N-no!”, Roman puffed out his chest to hide how scared he had been, “I’m not scared of anything!”  
“Sure, sure.”, Remus waved, “Just be careful you won’t be haunted tonight, heh.”  
“Impossible.”, Logan fixed his glasses, “There has been no scientific proof, that ghosts exist.”  
“I never said it’d be a ghost, that’ll haunt Roman.”, Remus grinned mischievously.  
“By the way, which one is the older one in your case?”, Patton asked the Storm brothers, “I never got to know your guys birthdays.”  
“I’m older.”, Janus said.  
Virgil grumbled.  
“Are you okay, Virgil?”, Patton chuckled a little.  
“He’s grumpy that he’s the younger one, considering I came to the family after him.”, Janus explained with a slight smug.  
“It’s just a few months!”, Virgil hid behind his cards.  
“February 3rd and July 15th is a difference of almost half a year, my dearest baby brother.”, Janus teased, giving Virgil's cheek a squish.  
“I hate it when you do that.”, Virgil growled angrily and flustered. He waved his brothers hand away from his face.  
“Hey, didn’t you say your birthdays were close to winter?”, Remus remembered the small conversation Patton and Logan had back in the hospital, “That should be pretty damn soon.”  
“It is!”, Patton smiled, “October 19th!”  
“And you, Logan?”, Roman asked.  
“October 19th also.”, Logan replied, “Our birthdays is what caused us to become friends in the first place.”  
“Yeah!”, Patton giggled, “Back in kindergarten, I invited Logan to my party, and he told me he couldn’t come, because it was his birthday too, hehe. So we had a double birthday party!”  
“That means you two must be the youngest here then.”, Roman pointed out.  
“Falsehood.”, Logan corrected, “The two of us are turning 17 this year. That makes me the oldest, closely followed by Patton.”  
“He was born in the morning, and I was born at night.”, Patton added.  
Roman glanced between the couple in disbelief.  
“That means Remus and I are the youngest.”, he concluded, “We just turned 16 this summer!”  
“Correction, you are the youngest.”, Remus finished the circle with that little tease towards his brother.  
“I am not!”, Roman instantly took offense.  
“I love how easy it is to tease you with that, hehehe.”, Remus laughed.  
“Okay, let’s change the subject.”, Roman commanded flustered, “We should order food soon before the restaurants close.”  
“Let’s watch a movie while we wait.”, Remus suggested.  
“Let me guess, something with horror and gore?”, Virgil uttered while laying his cards down.  
“Actually I’m more in the mood for a Disney movie for once.”, Remus debunked.  
“You must be in a very, very good mood then.”, Roman smiled, “I’m... glad.”  
“Don’t make this a disgustingly cute moment, you dumpster full of glitter.”, Remus stuck his tongue out in disgust.

The group decided to watch a bunch of the more old school, hand drawn Disney movies. After “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, and “Aristocats”, the gang collectively picked “Hercules” next.  
Delivery came during the second half of the first movie.  
Anne and Maria returned sometime at the beginning of the third movie.  
Once “Zero to Hero” started playing, the first guests fell asleep.  
Cuddled up together, and hands intertwined, Patton and Logan quietly snored through the movie.  
Roman was the next one to fall asleep. He sat in the armchair, legs dangling from one of the armrests. He missed the argument between Hercules and Phil by seconds.  
As the titans were freed by Hades, Virgil drifted off into sleep as well. Despite the amount of caffeine in his system, he still didn’t manage to stay up. He snagged one of the sleeping bags Anne had provided.  
“Heh, look at these dorks.”, Remus snorted, “Can’t even stay up one night.”  
He had resumed to his place on the sofa he had prior to Janus’s and Virgil’s arrival.  
“I assume you’re not tired yet?”, Janus, who sat on a chair he had gotten from the dinner table, asked quietly.  
“Nope.”, Remus confirmed, “Hey, how about I introduce you to my pet octopus?”  
Janus perked up.  
“... You have a pet octopus?”, he asked, trying not to sound too interested.  
“Yeah, come on!”, Remus jumped up from his seat and ran towards the staircase, switching a light switch. Turns out, that was for the light upstairs.  
“But what about the movie?”, Janus pointed at the TV.  
“Eh, just let it play out.”, Remus waved it off, “The DVD player and the TV turn off by themselves when they’re not in use.”  
“I see.”, Janus got up from his seat, “Okay then.”  
“You’re gonna love him!”, Remus started walking upstairs once Janus had reached him, “His name is Octo!”  
“Octo?”, Janus raised an eyebrow, “I honestly expected you to pick a more creative and outlandish name.”  
“Well, his full name is Count Octokar Chuthulu the Brave but no one except for me can remember that.”, Remus shrugged as he made it past the last step of the stairs.  
“That sounds more like your caliber.”, Janus nodded.  
“Hehe, I know!”, Remus pranced towards his room, waiting for Janus to catch up.  
However, Janus was caught off guard by the pictures that hung in the hallway.  
“Huh.”, escaped his mouth, “Looking at the children’s photos one might think you used to be an innocent angel.”  
“Oh, I lost my innocence when I was like, 12.”, Remus said with a joking tone,”Maybe even 13, I don’t remember the details.”  
However, he actually meant that.  
Janus pretended to ignore that statement, but truly, he had been worried.  
Before letting that known in any form of unconscious expression, he focused on the next picture.  
“Is that your father?”, he pointed at the wedding picture of Anne and Romulus.  
“Yeah...”, Remus rubbed his arm.  
Janus realized, that Remus needed some comforting words.  
“He certainly looks like a joyful person.”, was the best he was able to come up with.  
“He was.”, Remus avoided eye contact. His usual upbeat energy suddenly disappeared as well.  
Janus knew, that that was the cue to change the topic.  
“Well.”, he clapped once, “Show me that aquatic friend of yours.”  
“Hm?”, Remus looked up from the ground, “Oh, yeah, yeah, come in!”  
He opened the door for Janus.  
The taller teen didn’t fully know what to expect from Remus’s room.  
Yes, the level of messiness was a given, but the overall style is what caught Janus’s attention.  
The green of the walls, and how that looked with the white-blue light from the octopus tank. The various posters of different horror movies and old vinyl records, the way Remus used those as decor made it look almost stylish.  
Remus closed the door behind him, not bothering to turn on the lights. He thought the tank gave enough light.  
“The he is!”, Remus walked towards his pets home. He bent down to have a better look at his eight legged friend.  
“Are you out for a little midnight swim, huh?”, he asked Octo, as if the tiny octopus could have replied.  
He then noticed Janus, standing next to him, a bit awkwardly.  
“You can take a closer look at him too, you know?”, he told his guest.  
“I see him quite well from here.”, Janus denied the offer.  
Remus shot Janus a questioning look.  
Until it hit him.  
“Dude, your back hurts, doesn’t it?”, Remus stood straight again.  
“No.”, Janus lied.  
“Dee, don’t lie.”, Remus saw right through that falsehood.  
“I’m not.”, Janus tried to defend himself.  
“Then take a closer look.”, Remus offered again.  
Janus hesitated. Then sighed.  
“Fine, you win.”, he admitted defeated, “My entire upper body feels like it’s on fire.”  
Remus made his way past Janus, to get to his closet.  
He quickly pulled out an oversized shirt, slightly torn at the hems, with a two faced skull printed on the front. He held it towards Janus.  
“You really need to get out of your binder.”, he told Janus, “How long have you been wearing that thing for?”  
“Ever since this morning.”, Janus grabbed the shirt.  
“You’re fucking nuts!”, Remus exclaimed, “That’s far too long! To be fair, I’m the last person to berate you about health, but whatever.”  
“... Thank you.”, Janus uttered, “I will get changed in the bathroom.”  
He then left the room, to Remus’s dismay.  
“I could have just turned around or whatever.”, he pouted, arms crossed in front of his chest.  
He glanced at his aquarium.  
“... Don’t give me that look, or you’re grounded.”, he told Octo, who still had been happily swimming around in his tank.  
A few moments later, Janus returned with his clothes folded over one arm.  
He quietly closed the door and placed the shirt and the binder on Remus’s desk.  
“Lookin’ pretty hot in my stuff, heh.”, Remus complimented with a smug grin.  
“... Tell me.”, Janus took a quick breath, “What do you see in me?”  
“A pretty hot dude...?”, Remus answered confused, “What do you want me to say?”  
“It’s just that...”, Janus bit his tongue.  
“You don’t think you’re man enough?”, Remus filled in the blank.  
Janus nodded.  
“Okay.”, the twin cleared his throat, “Answer me this. What’s your name?”  
“... Janus.”, Janus answered.  
“Janus...?”, Remus wanted to hear more.  
“Janus Damien Storm..?”, Janus shook his head, “What are you-“  
“Your pronouns?”, Remus interrupted his guest.  
“He and him.”, Janus squinted his eyes confused.  
“Boom. Man.”, Remus concluded his interrogation, “Case closed.”  
Janus eyes Remus up and down before turning his head towards Octo.  
“I wish it was that easy.”, he breathed.  
“Look, I don’t really know what I can tell you to make you feel better.”, Remus scratched his neck, “The mushy feely stuff is my brothers department. But it must mean something if my gay ass falls for y-“, he then choked on his words.

_Mental note:_   
_Stop oversharing everything, you dumb fuck._

“Ha...”, Remus nervously laughed, trying to overplay what he just admitted, “Hahaha, uh... My bad...?”  
“I don’t feel the same way.”, Janus replied.  
“Yeah, I know, I know!”, Remus waved panicky, “I, ugh, I really just need to learn how to shut up for once!”  
“Is that the reason you’re trying to be friends with me?”, Janus wondered, his voice sounding hurt, “Are you pretending to be my friend only to get in my pants?”  
“I’m not always horny!”, Remus yelled, but quickly shushed himself, not to wake anyone else up, “I... I didn’t mean to tell you. Not now at least. Or not like that, for that matter.”, the more he spoke, the more nervous he became, “I-I‘m- I don’t know what to tell you. I-I’m trying. I don’t know what I’m doing because I was busy either dying, getting fucked or being in the hospital for the past few years!”  
Remus dropped onto his bed, holding onto his bedpost.  
“And now I ruined everything. As always, heh.”, he laughed, exhausted, “You gave me a chance and I blew it... Not a surprise, really.”  
“You didn’t ruin anything.”, Janus took a seat next to Remus, “I’m willing to forget about your confession, and we can continue to build up our friendship the way we did before.”  
“You seem to lie to yourself a lot.”, Remus noticed.  
“And you don’t.”, Janus countered.  
“Yeah, cuz it’s bullshit.”, Remus shrugged, “I rather be my true self than satisfy anyone who has a problem with that.”  
“So, you want me to remember your confession then?”, Janus raised an eyebrow.  
“I mean it’s too late now, isn’t it?”, the twin waved with his hand, “You can pretend all you want, but in the end, I said what I said.”  
“I assume so.”, Janus nodded his head defeated, “But... why?”  
“Huh?”, Remus shot a confused glance at his guest.  
“I’m going to be honest with you.”, Janus sighed, “Well, I’ve been honest for the most part, but I wanted to make that clear again. I just find it hard to believe, that anyone would have a romantic interest in me. I assumed your interest was merely... superficial. Other than that... I... I have been in a relationship before. If you can call it that.”

_After Janus’s coming out as trans, the atmosphere in the school seemed much different._   
_To him at least._   
_It was to his surprise, that another theater kid from his club asked him out on a date._   
_Janus had never been to any dates before. How could he have? With all the self discovery he needed to do first._   
_Janus hesitated, but agreed._   
_The first few dates were nice. Janus felt nice for once. He felt accepted as the true person he was._   
_Or so he thought._   
_Once Janus had been on a romantic high, the pink tinted glasses shattered once his “boyfriend” admitted his true intentions._   
_“You know, Janus is a pretty cool name for a girl.”, he said, “I never really liked you as Angelica.”_   
_Janus’s mind made a figurative record scratch._   
_“W-what?”, he stuttered._   
_“You’re pretty co...”, the other boy’s voice slowly faded. For Janus at least._   
_It made sense on hindsight._   
_He kept referring to Janus as “she” constantly. The latter gave his partner the benefit of the doubt, mainly because Janus recently came out, and people needed time to adjust._   
_But his “boyfriend” didn’t seem to want to adjust._   
_He thought he was dating a girl all along._   
_“I’m... I’m not a girl, you know?”, Janus confronted his partner._   
_“Haha, yeah sure.”, he laughed._   
_That stung._   
_“... Wait, you’re serious, aren’t you?”, the boy asked, a little upset._   
_“I went through the whole process of reintroducing myself as Janus Damien Storm!”, Janus yelled frustrated, “You really think I did that only because the names sounded cool?”_   
_“Haha, no.”, the other boy suddenly got more sinister, “You’re still a girl, and forever will be. You were born that way, and you can’t change that. Plus, I’m not a little faggot only because you think you can be one of us! You’re my girlfriend! End of the story!”_   
_“What the- No!”, Janus took a step back, “I’m not your girlfriend! I wouldn’t even want to be your girlfriend after that stunt you pulled!”_   
_“What?!”, the boy took a step forward, reversing the effect Janus’s step had made, “I’m just saying the truth! What are you gonna do about it?!”_   
_“Break up with you, that’s what!”, Janus took another step back, “Fuck you!”, before angrily walking off._

Remus didn’t comment. Instead, he gripped onto his wooden bedpost so tightly, that he almost ripped a piece out.  
“A-are you okay?”, Janus asked, worried.  
“Oh, I’m fiiiiine.”, Remus smiled angrily, “But that piece of shit won’t b-“  
“He moved away last year.”, Janus quickly threw in, “No... need to do anything. Please let go of that bedpost.”  
Remus did what Janus asked him to do.  
“That’s such a scummy thing to do!”, he yelled aggressively.  
“He came from a highly conservative household.”, Janus explained, “That should have been the first red flag, now that I think about it.”  
“Yeah, fuck those.”, Remus slowly calmed down, “With a chainsaw.”  
Remus’s little remake made Janus cackle.  
A first.  
“But now you probably understand why I’m confused about your interest in me.”, Janus said, pretending that the chuckle never happened.  
“Yeah.”, Remus nodded, “But in my defense, I’m not a dick.”  
“I know. You’ve proven that time and time again.”, Janus agreed, “But still. I know I lie a lot, especially to myself, but I don’t think I can pretend, that that situation with my ex never happened for that long. Especially considering you seem to be able to see through my lies.”  
“I’m a human lie detector, heh!”, Remus joked.

_Maybe I’ll give him a chance when the time is right..._

“Hey, I’m in the mood for something crafty now!”, Remus suddenly jumped up from his seat and walked towards his desk, “You know what Kandi is?”  
“As in... the sweets?”, Janus asked confused.  
“No, no!”, Remus opened a drawer and pulled out a box. It made a plasticy shaking noise.  
“K-a-n-d-i.”, he closed the drawer with his hip and made his was back to the bed, “It’s a huge rave thing. It’s like, jewelry made from cheap and colorful plastic beads.”  
He opened the plastic container, only for it to reveal a bunch of said plastic beads, and some string to tie them in.  
“It’s pretty easy to make simple Kandi once you get the hang of it.”, Remus smiled.  
“And... what’s the use of those?”, Janus questioned while carefully watching the other preparing the first Kandi.  
“You can exchange that with other ravers. Wait, lemme show you.”, Remus got up and went to the same drawer once again.  
He pulled out two bracelets and made his way back to Janus.  
The bracelets were both pretty simple, both in style and pattern. A single layer, consisting of five rows, in a checkered pattern. One was green-black, the other was yellow-black.  
“I made these this summer when I was stuck in the hospital.”, the twin explained while grabbing Janus’s left wrist and putting the green Kandi on.  
Remus himself took the yellow one.  
Janus eyed the piece of jewelry for a second.  
“Okay.”, Remus breathed as he sat back down, “Basically, you have to imagine we’re on a rave party. I walk up to you, pointing at your Kandi, willing to exchange some.”  
“Do I just give it to you?”, Janus wondered.  
“No, not exactly.”, Remus shook his head, “There are some unspoken rules about exchanging Kandi, but I don’t wanna go into too much detail. Basically what happens before you exchange the Kandi is kinda like a handshake.”  
Remus held up his left hand, making the shape of one half of a heart.  
“You have to finish the heart.”, he told Janus.  
“Ah.”, Janus did, what Remus told him.  
“Hey, you even used the correct hand!”, Remus cheered, “This symbolizes love, obviously. Important is, is that you never break contact.”  
Remus then formed a peace sign. Janus quickly followed, letting the fingertips touch.  
“This stands for peace.”, Remus filled in, “Honestly, this shit is pretty self explanatory. We now have to intertwine our hands.”  
Janus hesitated, but followed.  
Once their hands intertwined, Remus went back to explaining.  
“This means unity.”, he said, “That’s when you exchange the Kandi.”  
He then demonstrated how he would switch the bracelets around, him ending up with the green one, and Janus having the yellow one.  
“And done!”, Remus let go of Janus’s hand, “I did that a lot when I first went to rave parties, but it got boring quickly and I started doing coke in bathroom stalls instead.”  
“Wait, you actually did cocaine?”, Janus asked in disbelief.  
“Yeah.”, Remus shrugged, “It’s no biggie, I’ve been clean for a good while now.”  
“What do you mean- No biggie?!”, the blond teen was baffled.  
“It’s not one anymore at least.”, Remus continued working on his new Kandi, “Oh, by the way, you can keep that.”, he then pointed at the bracelet Janus had been wearing.  
“Thanks, but can we please stay on topic?”, Janus asked worried.  
“Trust me, I’ve done a lot of stupid shit.”, Remus shrugged once more.  
“So, everything you said, about almost dying and getting... fucked-?”  
“All true.”  
Janus was speechless.  
“Hey, but let’s not talk about that now.”, Remus noticed the silence coming from the other teen, “I’m here, I’m alive. I wouldn’t say I’m well, but that’s what I’m in therapy for.”  
Janus wanted to leave the topic at that.  
However, he thought he needed to make up for Remus sharing his side of things.  
Janus picked up a random bead and inspected it.

_Maybe I shouldn’t._   
_Not now, at least._   
_I shared enough for today._

Alas, he bit his tongue and decided to leave it at that for now.  
“So, how do you make Kandi?”, he asked instead, “You’re already working ahead without explaining.”  
“Oh yeah.”, Remus realized, “I knew I forgot something, heh.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still sleepover time! But the first two guests already left because one of them didn't feel good.  
> ... Oh, you thought the fluff would last longer?
> 
> Trigger warnings: suicide attempt and strong self deprecation (in a flashback)

Roman was the first one to wake up.  
Mainly because his back hurt from his unconventional sleeping position. He stood up and stretched his body, in hopes of relieving the pain.  
And it helped a lot.  
He looked around, spotting Logan and Patton first. The two must have fully shifted on the couch during the night.  
Still cuddling, of course.  
Roman then checked for Virgil, who laid on the ground on the other side of the sofa.  
His purple head peaking past the couch was enough confirmation for the twin.  
He then realized that Remus and Janus had been missing.  
“Huh.”, he let out quietly.  
He slowly snuck past the sleeping guests and went upstairs.  
Not only to get a fresh set of clothes and brush his teeth, but also to check where the two missing boys had been.  
He opened Remus’s door a little, preparing to see the worst.  
However, Roman was pleasantly surprised when he saw his brother and Janus, peacefully sleeping on the king sized bed.  
Both of them had a bunch of Kandi on each arm. Some beads even made it on the floor, although knowing Remus, he wouldn’t be bothered.  
He then noticed the shirt Janus had been wearing. He knew very well that that belonged to Remus.  
“Huh, strange...”

Once Roman was done with his morning routine, he went back downstairs.  
He noticed that Virgil had woken up while he was gone. The purple haired teen was on his phone, mindlessly scrolling.  
“Good Morning, Stormcloud!”, Roman greeted enthusiastically but still quietly, not to wake the sleeping couple on the sofa.  
“Mornin’...”, Virgil mumbled. He didn’t seem like a morning person.  
“Aren’t you a ray of sunshine?”, Roman teased the boy on the floor.  
“You just called me storm cloud Princey.”, Virgil shot Roman a glance over his shoulder, “How am supposed to be that and a ray of sunshine?”  
“Got me there.”, Roman snapped with his fingers, “Are you hungry or anything?”,  
“I’m good.”, Virgil turned back to his phone, “I usually don’t eat breakfast.”  
“Really?”, Roman wondered, “That’s not really healthy.”  
“And you’re a beacon of health?”, Virgil raised an eyebrow.  
“I am!”, Roman puffed his chest out, “Just look at me!”  
“I am looking.”, Virgil finally put his phone down and leaned his head on his hand, “And all I see is an inflated ego.”  
“Ah!”, Roman exclaimed over dramatically, “How dare you?”  
“Hey, I said it before, I’ll say it again.”, Virgil shrugged, “I’m not the type of person to sugarcoat things.”  
“Yeah, that’s my job...”, came a tired voice from the sofa.  
Roman checked, seeing Patton, who rubbed his eyes.  
“Good Morning, Pat!”, Roman smiled.  
“Did you just make a fricking dad joke?”, Virgil uttered disgusted.  
“That’s my specialty, right after cupcakes, heh.”, Patton giggled.  
Virgil groaned into his sleeping bag before getting up.  
“I’ll get ready.”, he grumbled as he took his bag and went upstairs.  
“Is Logan awake too?”, Roman wondered.  
Patton checked for him.  
“Nope.”, he said, shaking his head, “We can surprise him with breakfast!”  
“If you’re willing to help, I’m all open for it!”, Roman made his way to the kitchen.  
Patton carefully freed himself from the already lose grip Logan had on him.  
The smaller teen gave his sleeping boyfriend a kiss on the forehead before dashing into the kitchen.  
“You really are the personification of pure sugar, heh.”, Roman complimented.  
“Thank you!”, Patton smiled widely, “So, what are we cooking?”  
“I could bust out the waffle iron and make some waffles.”, Roman suggested.  
“Oh, I know a great waffle dough recipe!”, Patton blurted out excitedly.  
“Then go at it, chef cook.”, Roman bent down to get the waffle iron from the lower cabinet. He placed it on the counter and took a step aside.  
“Chef baker would be more accurate.”, Patton corrected politely as he stepped up to the small kitchen machine, “I don’t really know how to cook, heh.”  
“But isn’t baking much more complicated?”, Roman leaned against the counter and crossed his arms.  
“Not really.”, Patton looked around the cupboards, “Uh, I need a bowl and some ingredients.”  
“Oh, right, my bad!”, Roman quickly searched for the things Patton needed.  
“But yeah, baking usually has the same steps, sorta. You make the dough, put it in a pan and bake it.”, Patton explained briefly, “I can see how the decorating part may be a bit hard though, but you don’t always have to decorate your baked goods! Cooking on the other hand is like... too many steps at once. First chop this and cook it in a pan, then boil water in a different pot and throw that stuff in, you know? I’m glad that I can cook simple pasta and tomato sauce, hehe.”  
Roman placed the bowl filled with all sorts of ingredients in front of Patton.  
“Well, if you explain it that way, that makes cooking sound much harder.”, he agreed, “By the way, do you need anything else? I got you flour, sugar and eggs.”  
“Yeah, I need some milk, baking soda and maybe vanilla extract of some sorts. I can sprinkle some cinnamon in too, if you have any.”, Patton offered.  
“Hm, lemme check. The milk is in the fridge by the way.”, Roman pointed at the refrigerator behind Patton.  
While the teens were preparing breakfast for the others, Virgil had made his way back out from the bathroom and back to the living room.  
He leaned against the the counter of the half open kitchen.  
“Whaddya up to?,” he asked.  
“We’re making waffles!”, Patton filled in while throwing the ingredients together.  
“No waffle for him, he said he’s not hungry.”, Roman pointed out with a small grin.  
“Hey, if Pat’s he one making the waffles, I want one too.”, Virgil argued, “The cupcakes were really awesome.”  
“I’m glad you enjoyed them!”, Patton cheered, “Logan and I put a lot of effort into them!”  
“Hey, I just had a great idea!”, Roman suddenly exclaimed, “We could use the leftover fruit salad as a topping for the waffles!”  
“Yes!”, Patton cheered, “Great idea!”  
“Wait, let me help.”, Virgil decided to join the chefs.  
Eventually their bickering would wake up Logan.  
He sat up and stretched his body with a groan. It took him a moment to orient himself.  
“Ah, yes, the sleepover.”, he then nodded to himself.  
“Mornin’, Teach.”, Virgil was the first one to greet him.  
“Good morning, Virgil.”, Logan greeted back while taking off his glasses and checking them for dirt.  
“We’re making breakfast, want some?”, Virgil wondered.  
“Yes, please.”, Logan put his glasses back on, “Thank you. I will get ready in the meantime.”  
With that, he left the others alone.  
“Roman, could you make some coffee?”, Patton asked sweetly, “Logan likes coffee for breakfast and I don’t know how your machine works.”  
“You’re like a short husband, heh.”, Roman joked while getting a mug for the coffee.  
Patton stopped in his tracks.  
“Y-you think so?”, he asked with a smile, trying to hide the insecurity that just kicked in.  
“Yeah!”, Roman didn’t catch onto Patton’s uneasiness, “Actually, now that I think about that, you’re more like our group dad.”  
“Ah...”, Patton slowly returned to making the waffles, “Thanks, hehe.”  
He was still not okay though. And Virgil caught on.  
“Hey, Princey, how about you set the table and I make the coffee?”, he suggested, “We have the same machine at home.”  
“Alright.”, Roman shrugged, not questioning Virgil’s suggestion any further.  
He opened one of the top cupboards and pulled out a few plates.  
“The mugs are up here too, if you’re looking for them.”, he told Virgil before leaving the kitchen.  
“Hey, Pat, are you okay?”, Virgil asked while grabbing two mugs. He had to stand on his top toes for that.  
“Hm, what do you mean?”, Patton smiled nervously as Virgil made his way past him to the coffee machine.  
“Roman must have said something that set you off.”, Virgil explained, “I’m just checking on ya.”  
“Oh, no, no, I’m fine!”, Patton waved it off with a nervous laugh, “Roman didn’t say anything to offend me or anything, haha.”  
Virgil decided to leave it at that for the moment, mainly because Roman had come back to grab some silverware and a few cups for juice.  
However he left as fast as he had entered the kitchen.  
“How does Logan like his coffee?”, Virgil wondered, letting out the first mug of the hot brew.  
“Oh, y-you don’t have to do that anymore.”, Patton stuttered, “I-I don’t even know of he’s really in the mood for coffee.”  
“Well, too late now.”, Virgil pointed out.  
“Okay, heh.”, Patton chuckled, still unsure of himself, “Then black. He usually doesn’t add anything.”  
“Disgusting.”, Virgil stuck his tongue out, “How can someone drink that stuff without any milk or sugar?”  
“I dunno, I don’t drink coffee.”, Patton uttered.

Once all the waffles were done, Patton quickly made a dash for the bathroom and got himself into some fresh clothes too.  
When he went back downstairs, the three other teens were already at the table, enjoying their breakfast.  
Patton silently and timidly took a seat next to Logan, only giving him a small smile.  
“Good morning, Patton.”, Logan greeted.  
“Morning...”, Patton greeted back quietly.  
Logan caught onto the atypical lack of cheerfulness, however, he’d let it slide. For now.  
Virgil took a bite from his food, as he realized something. He stopped chewing and looked around the table. He spotted two empty seats.  
“Wait, hold up, where’s Janus?”, he wondered confused and slightly worried, “And for that fact, where’s the chaos twin?”  
“Oh, they’re upstairs, probably still sleeping.”, Roman filled in.  
He then realized something himself.  
“Hold up! Dang it!”, he jumped up from his seat and made a run for the kitchen.  
“What...?”, Virgil whispered to himself.  
In a rush, Roman opened the top cabinet right next to the fridge.  
He grabbed a pill container; the pills were pre-sorted; and a bottle of water from the refrigerator and ran back out, past the group of teens and upstairs to his brothers room.  
Before he could barge in, the door opened by itself.  
Janus had been awake.  
“Uh...”, he raised an eyebrow, “Is that how you greet your guests in the morning?”  
“I’m sorry but you really need to get out real quick.”, Roman pushed past the blond teen, simultaneously pushing him outside, and banged the door shut.  
“Huh.”, Janus decided to not question Roman’s behavior any further and went downstairs to get his bag.  
When he almost arrived at the bottom, he was holed by 3 pairs of eyes.  
“That’s... not your shirt?”, was the first thing Virgil pointed out.  
“Good morning to you too, Vee.”, Janus snarked, “It’s Remus’s shirt.”  
Virgils instinct kicked in right away.  
“Why are you wearing his shirt?!”, he asked, worried.  
“I had to take my binder off.”, Janus explained while grabbing his bag.  
“But- you didn’t-“  
“Absolutely not.”, Janus interrupted his brother, “Who do you think I am?”  
“What’s with the bracelets?”, Patton wondered, indirectly changing the subject.  
Janus forgot he wore jewelry. He checked his arm and noticed a bunch of bracelets.  
“Right.”, he breathed, “Remus showed me how to make Kandi. So we made a bunch last night.”  
Before anyone had the chance to reply, Janus went back upstairs.  
When he arrived on top of the stairs again, he heard some bickering from Remus’s room. The twins must have had an argument.  
He decided to ignore it for now and get ready for the day.  
Janus closed the bathroom door behind him and dropped his bag in front of the bathtub. He then checked himself in the mirror. The teen eyed the shirt in particular.  
Until realization hit him.

_I forgot my binder in Remus’s room._

So Janus made his way back out of the bathroom and in front of the door next to it.  
The bickering inside turned into yelling.  
 _“Remus, come on!”_  
 _“Fuck off, Pillowprince!”_  
 _“You have to take these!”_  
 _“But I feel great! I don’t need those!”_  
 _“We’ve had this discussion before-“_  
 _“Ugh, shut up!”_  
 _“-only because you have one good day doesn’t mean you can skip on your medication!”_  
 _“Try swallowing a handful of pills every day for breakfast! It fucking sucks!_  
 _“It’s only four-“_  
 _“Four too many!”_  
 _“You could relapse! Please!”_  
 _“I won’t relapse only because I don’t take these stupid smarties for a day.”_  
 _“Yeah, but knowing you, you’ll use that argument every day until you have to head to the hospital again! We’ve been there before!”_  
Janus was too afraid to knock.  
Lucky for him, the twins mothers just made their way outside of their bedroom.  
“Good morning, Janus.”, Anne greeted tiredly.  
“Good morning.”, he greeted back, “You... may want to check on your sons.”  
“Huh?”, Anne suddenly jolted fully awake.  
“They’re arguing about Remus not taking his medication...?”, Janus pointed at the door.  
“Oh, shoot!”, Anne quickly ran up to Janus and knocked at the door.  
Maria followed quietly.  
The teen took a step aside, not to stand in the way too much.  
“Remus, Roman, I’m coming in, okay?”, Anne sung sweetly.  
“Please!”, Roman plead.  
“No!”, Remus countered.  
“How about you head downstairs for now?”, Maria told Janus. He nodded and left the mothers alone.  
“Is everything okay up there?”, Patton asked once Janus had taken a seat at the dinner table.  
“I... don’t know?”, Janus glanced down at his plate. The waffles that were carefully placed and decorated were most likely cold by now.

Anne was kind enough to retrieve the two articles of clothing Janus had forgotten in Remus’s room.  
Him and the others were told that Remus wouldn’t be leaving his room for the day. Due to exhaustion, supposedly.  
A few hours have passed by now. Roman and Virgil had started to bond over Kingdom Hearts. They’ve been playing it nonstop for the past two hours, while Janus was pretending to watch them.  
Patton and Logan had left not too long ago. Patton didn’t feel so well and wanted to head back home.  
“I’ll be right back.”, Janus got up from the armchair he’d been sitting in. He got some absent okay’s from both his brother and Roman.  
No one questioned where Janus was heading, most assumed it may have been the bathroom.  
Although Janus’s stop was the door past the bathroom.  
He knocked carefully.

_No response._

He tried again.  
And again.  
And again.  
“GOD, FOR FUCKS SA- oh, hey Dee!”, from 100 back to a 0 real quick. Remus smiled at Janus as if nothing had happened.  
“Are you... okay?”, Janus raised an eyebrow.  
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”, Remus waved with his hand.  
“May I come in?”, Janus asked.  
“Of course!”, Remus stepped aside, “You’re always welcome in my messy kingdom! Octo already loves you!”  
“By the way, your mother threw your shirt in the washing machine.”, Janus quickly explained before any questions about the shirts whereabouts came up.  
“Oh, you could have kept that, I don’t really wear it anymore.”, Remus said while closing the door.  
“I see.”, Janus furrowed his eyebrows.  
“I’ll just keep it for next time I guess.”, Remus shrugged as he made his way over to the office chair he seemed to have been sitting in prior.  
“Next-? You want us to come again?”, Janus asked surprised, taking a seat on the twins bed.  
“Of course!”, Remus turned around on his chair, “Or did you really think this was a one off thing?”

_He’s really trying to become friends with me, huh?_

“By the way, what’s with the other dorks?”, Remus pointed at the door with his thumb.  
“Patton and Logan went home. Patton didn’t feel so well.”, Janus briefly elaborated, “And our brothers are playing Kingdom Hearts.”  
“Somehow I’m not surprised.”, Remus shook his head, “Fucking nerds.”  
“Truly.”, Janus agreed with a small smile.  
A rarity in Remus’s eyes.  
“I see you’ve been making more Kandi.”, Janus spotted the beads on Remus’s desk.  
“Oh, yeah.”, Remus grabbed his almost finished piece, “I don’t even know what to do with all of this. I don’t go to raves anymore.”  
“It’s a nice hobby to have I suppose.”, Janus pointed out.  
“Better than the shit I used to do then I got bored, that’s for sure.”, Remus thought out loud while threading the next bead on the thread.  
Janus bit his tongue. He didn’t want to dig into Remus’s past life too much, but with all the hints he had been dropping, it probably hadn’t been easy in the slightest.  
Something Janus could relate to all too well.  
However, he didn’t want to dwell on a rather negative topic, so the blond teen decided to change it.  
“Have you read the script for our play yet?”, he asked Remus.  
“Oh, I know that shit by heart already.”, Remus waved it off, “I was the one who suggested that musical in the first place.”  
“Ah.”, Janus nodded, “How did you know of that play?”  
“From my old high school.”, Remus filled in, “It was our play last year. I didn’t play the role of the Devil though. Plus I was expelled shortly before I had the chance to perform at all.”  
“...”, Janus was speechless.  
“I broke a bitches nose for breaking Romans heart.”, Remus chuckled, “The school didn’t like that very much.”  
“Jesus Christ...”, Janus uttered slightly scared, “You really have no filter, do you?”  
“I have to speak my mind!”, Remus threaded another bead on the bracelet, “Sometimes my mind wants my fists to do things as well. Mostly punching.”  
“Not that you get expelled again.”, Janus remarked a little sarcastically.  
“I’m trying not to this time.”, Remus promised, “It may be hard to believe, but I’m actually trying to better myself. Do less destructive stuff to others and myself at least. Especially to myself.”  
Remus dropped his project in his lap.  
He let out a sigh.  
“To be honest with you-“  
“You say that as if you haven’t been the entire time.”, Janus interrupted Remus.  
“You know what I mean.”, Remus rolled his eyes, “When you said you wanted me to leave you alone... I get it. I wouldn’t wanna be near me either if I were you. But thanks for giving me a chance anyways.”  
These vulnerable moments felt like a movie to Janus. His head couldn’t comprehend Remus being calm and down to earth between the moments of high energy and potty behavior.  
And yet, there the twin was, being calm and collected, even if it was for just a moment.  
“How about we recite some lines?”, Janus suggested, “I would need the scrip though. I don’t know all to much by heart yet.”  
“Sure!”, Remus put his almost finished Kandi on the desk, “I just need to remember where I put it.”  
Janus let out another small chuckle.

When Patton and Logan arrived back home, the former instantly went to his room and barricaded himself with plushies and blankets on his bed. He also slipped into a more comfortable frog onesie.  
He had a book resting on his lap.  
The frog prince, to be precise. Fitting for his outfit.  
It was the same book his mother used to read to him when he was little.  
He found great comfort in that book, despite it being for kids.  
He let out a small sniffle.  
He felt like crying, but it hadn’t been enough to actually cry. So his face was in this weird pre-crying phase.  
Patton flipped a page as someone knocked at his door.  
“Yeah?”, he asked in a slightly weak voice.  
“May I come in?”, came a stoic voice from the other side.  
Patton wanted to say no, but he knew he couldn’t.  
“Of course...!”, he tried covering his sadness with a happy cheer.  
The door opened, revealing Logan with a mug in his hand. The mug had whipped cream and tiny marshmallows almost spilling over.  
“I... noticed you’ve been feeling quite down.”, he explained while carefully closing the door, “Well, before you had mentioned it yourself.”  
“You made me hot chocolate?”, Patton’s eyes lit up.  
“Of course.”, Logan walked towards his boyfriend and handed him the mug, “Despite it being highly unhealthy, I added whipped cream and marshmallows to it. Just how you like it.”  
“Thank you so much!”, Patton happily picked a marshmallow off and threw it in his mouth.  
Logan took a seat on the bed, trying not to disturb the plush-and-blanket wall Patton had buried himself in.  
“Do you... wish to talk about it?”, Logan wondered.  
Patton looked up from his mug.  
“Uhm...”, he stalled a little, “I don’t know... Not.. really...”  
“I respect that.”, Logan nodded, “I won’t pressure you. But if you want to talk, you know you can always talk to me.”  
“Thanks.”, Patton smiled weakly.  
“Is there anything else I could do for you?”, Logan fixed his glasses.  
“Uhm... I don’t... I’m just in a bit of a down phase, I’m fine.”, he lied.  
Logan suppressed a sigh.  
“I will leave you alone then, if that’s okay.”, Logan suggested carefully.  
“Okay.”, Patton took another marshmallow from the whipped cream, “Thanks for the hot coco.”  
“Of course.”, Logan got up from the bed, “Whatever may lift your mood.”  
Before leaving, Logan placed a small but sweet kiss on Patton’s forehead.  
Which the latter didn’t expect at all, reading from his small squeak.  
Once Logan was out of the room, Patton set the beverage aside and grabbed his phone from the side table.

Pawton: heya ro, do you have Virgils number by any chance?

Roman took his sweet time replying. He must have been occupied.

Princey: V here, what’s up  
Pawton: I guess V means Virgil?  
Princey: yeah, Roman’s in the middle of a boss battle in Kingdom Hearts  
Princey: wait

Virgil used the opportunity to send Patton a selfie, proofing that Roman indeed had been occupied.

Pawton; okay good  
Pawton: that’s good  
Princey: what’s wrong?  
Pawton: you know how earlier I was so bummed out?  
Princey: yeah  
Princey: I can punch Roman for you if he said something wrong  
Pawton: no violence >:(  
Princey: okay dad  
Princey: but what happened?  
Pawton: Roman jokingly said how I was like a husband already and like  
Pawton: I dunno that stuck with me sorta  
Princey: but isn’t that a good thing?  
Pawton: it is!!!  
Pawton: I think  
Pawton: maybe?  
Pawton: I dunno  
Pawton: that’s why I wanted to talk with you  
Princey: okay...? Care to elaborate further?  
Pawton: I just feel like Im doing too much sometimes  
Pawton: that I’m over🐻ing  
Princey: what?  
Princey: OH OVERBEARING

Virgil smacked his forehead.

Princey: you’re just caring, that’s a nice quality to have if you ask me  
Pawton: but what if I’m too caring? That it gets too much?  
Princey: okay, okay, hold up, what caused you to think that way?

Patton didn’t have a proper answer to that question.

Pawton: I just feel that way I guess  
Pawton: I especially feel that way when it comes to Logan  
Pawton: our relationship is still pretty new and I don’t wanna go overboard  
Princey: have you ever addressed that with him? He’s a pretty rational person from what I’ve gathered, I’m sure he’ll understand  
Pawton: but I’m scaaaaaared :((((  
Princey: I get that but you and Logan know each other for how long now?  
Pawton:.... very  
Princey: see?  
Princey: I get that you’re anxious, being anxious is my specialty, but in this case I’m sure Logan won’t immediately hate you or anything  
Princey: last time I checked relationships are build on communication, even if those convos seem scary  
Pawton: okay  
Pawton: i guess it’s time for a talk then  
Pawton: thanks Virgil  
Princey: you got it pop-star  
Pawton: A DAD THEMED NICKNAME AWW QWQ 💟💟💟💟💟  
Princey: I knew you’d like that one heh  
Princey: now go talk  
Pawton: will do! See you guys tomorrow!!!!

Patton put his phone aside and let out a sigh.  
He needed some mental preparing first before heading to Logan’s room.  
He got out of his bed, letting the book drop off his lap by its own, and stretched his body.  
“Okay, I can do this.”, the short teen hyped himself, “Like Virgil said, Logan will most likely understand!”  
He triumphantly smiled.  
But dropped that rather quickly.

_But what if that’s not the case...?_   
_What if he’ll get mad and-_   
_And breaks up right away?!_   
_And that would absolutely ruin our friendship too!_   
_I can’t risk that! I don’t want to risk that!_   
_But..._

Patton picked on the skin around his fingernails and bit his lower lip.

_No!_   
_You can’t let your doubts take over again, Pat!_   
_You can do this!_

He grabbed his hot chocolate and took a big sip, as if he needed a sugary rush before going on a big adventure.  
Patton wiped his face with his sleeve and went on his way to his boyfriend.  
With the coco.  
Logan’s room was only a few steps away from Patton’s.  
Patton knocked at the door, waiting for a response from the inside.  
Instead, the door opened.  
“Ah, Patton.”; Logan exclaimed, “Are you feeling any better?”  
“Not really.”, Patton scratched his neck with his free hand, “I actually wanted to talk.”  
“Did you change your mind?”, Logan stepped aside and let his boyfriend in.  
“Yeah.”, Patton placed the mug on Logan’s desk.  
“I see.”, Logan closed the door, “I’m willing to listen and possibly help then.”  
“Promise me you won’t get mad?”, Patton asked straight away.  
“Is there anything to get mad about?”, Logan raised an eyebrow in confusion. He walked towards Patton, stopping just a step away from the smaller teen.  
“Am I... too overbearing?”, Patton asked, avoiding eye contact.  
“What made you think that?”, he wondered.  
“It’s just...”, Patton sighed, “Roman made a comment about that and it made me think. Maybe I am doing too much? I just wanna be a good boyfriend.”  
“You certainly are.”, Logan confirmed.  
“I’m not too much?”, Patton asked for more reassurance.  
“Not that I took note of.”, Logan shook his head, “Yes, the additional affection you’ve been giving me throws me off sometimes, but that is just my inexperience. You don’t have to worry, at least not with me.”  
Patton shyly glanced up at Logan through his lashes.  
“I’m sorry.”, he then apologized.  
“For what?”, Logan asked confused, “You did nothing wrong.”  
“I made you worried.”, Patton explained, “About a thing neither of us didn’t need to be worried about.”  
“That’s perfectly fine.”, Logan countered with a soft tone.  
“Thanks...”, Patton played with the hems of his sleeves, staring at the ground.  
“Please never shy away from talking to me, okay?”, Logan placed his hands on Patton’s shoulders, “I may have troubles with emotions myself, but I want to be as supportive as I can be.”  
“I’ll try, hehe.”, Patton’s mood seemed to slowly lift again, “But now that you say that, how are you? I haven’t checked with you in a while.”  
“You checked on me yesterday morning.”, Logan corrected.  
“That’s a while to me.”, the dark blond teen joked. Which made Logan smile a little. He was glad to see his partner being able to crack jokes again. He let go of Patton’s shoulders and folded his arms in front of his own chest.  
“I’m fine.”, he answered Patton’s question, “The sleepover was quite enjoyable.”  
“It was!”, Patton cheered, “I hope we’re doing another one soon!”  
The small banter was interrupted by a little ringing tune coming from Logan’s laptop, which had been ignored for the most part.  
“Ah, that’s Dr. Picani.”, Logan informed his boyfriend, “I have a video chat with him today.”  
“Oh, gotcha!”, Patton quickly got his mug of coco again, “I’ll come back later then!”  
He the speedily shuffled outside, leaving Logan alone for his appointment.  
Logan took a seat at his desk and accepted the call.  
A man with light brown hair, wearing a pair of oval glasses, a beige cardigan, covering a white button up and a pink tie, appeared on Logan’s screen.  
“Ah, there you are!”, the man smiled, “Good afternoon, Logan!”  
“Good afternoon, Dr. Picani.”, the teen greeted back with a nod.  
“Thank you so much to agreeing to try this whole virtual therapy session!”, Emile cheered, “Let’s get started then! How are you doing? Are you having any progress?”  
“I assume so.”, Logan elaborated, “I’ve had a few setbacks, but overall, I would say I am doing fine.”  
“Setbacks?”, Emile asked, “You wanna tell me what those were?”  
“Well, for one, shortly after our return back home, my... parents paid us a visit.”, Logan’s parents was still a tough topic for him to talk about.  
“Oh no...”, Emile took note, “Your parents were a huge topic in our sessions... You still live with the Hart family, right?”  
“Yes.”, Logan confirmed with a nod.  
“That’s good.”, the doctor affirmed, “But why did your parents visit?”  
“Because of the medical bill.”  
Emile mentally smacked his forehead.  
“Of course.”, he scrunched his nose, “I should have guessed that. For some odd reason I assumed Patton’s parents would take over the costs, but that doesn’t make sense. What did you guys do about it?”  
“I... admitted to them that I clearly wasn’t in a good mental health.”, Logan glanced at his arm, “They saw my arm as well.”  
“We’ll pick that topic up after this one.”, Emile filled in, “But what will happen from now on?”  
“I told Susan and Austin to pay for those bills if they want to keep their perfect image up. My existence is clearly a figurative stain on their resume.”  
“No, no, no!”, Emile frantically disagreed, “It’s their fault for treating you like an object. You’re not some sort of stain, you’re a teenage boy! With valid feelings and concerns.”  
“Which I need to learn how to distinguish.”, the teen threw in.  
“We’ll get there. It’s going to be a slow process, but even the smallest steps in the right direction are good ones.”  
“Absolutely.”  
“What happened afterwards with your parents?”  
“Well...”, Logan took a small breath, “After they left, I... had a breakdown.”  
“I can understand why.”  
“I don’t remember what else happened. After my breakdown, I woke up in my bed.”  
“Breakdowns are very exhausting. Your body probably needed a good nap.”  
“That’s pretty much all regarding that dreadful situation. I haven’t seen Susan and Austin ever since.”  
“Good.”, Emile nodded contently, “How is your arm doing?”  
“I almost had a relapse.”  
Emile furrowed his eyebrows sadly.  
“No worries, I didn’t give in.”, Logan waved defensively, “My arm is as okay as it can be.”  
“Okay, but what caused you to have that reaction then in the first place?”  
“I accidentally cut my finger while I was slicing an apple. It caused me to break down once again, however, Patton guided me through that.”  
“Hmm, yes, yes.”, Emile took note once more, “Things like that may happen more often. A small brush against your arm, a little kitchen accident, all of that could trigger something in your mind and cause you to... well, you know.”  
“Y-yes.”, Logan swallowed.  
“But I’m really glad that you have someone like Patton by your side.”  
The corners of Logan’s mouth twitched upwards, his face flushed in a slight red tint.  
“You will have to learn how to deal with that trigger.”, Emile reminded Logan, “There is a chance that it’ll get activated much more than you think.”  
“Sounds logical.”, Logan nodded.  
“Is there anything that helped you lately?”, the therapist wondered, “A healthy way to cope, an exercise, anything really.”  
“I’ve been socializing a lot lately.”, Logan elaborated, “I’m still spending time with Remus and his brother, for one.”  
“That’s great!”, the adult encouraged, “How is Remus doing?”  
“I... can’t really tell.”, Logan fixed his glasses, “It’s a bit of an up and down with him. But overall I’d say he’s doing okay. Him and Roman hosted a sleepover at their place. They invited two other schoolmates as well.”  
“Oooh, tell me more about that!”  
While Logan was telling the psychiatrist about the sleepover, Emile paid close attention to Logan’s body language and expressions.  
“Well, you seem to have enjoyed yourself a lot!”, he concluded.  
“I did.”, Logan confirmed.  
“So there is some progress! I’m glad!”, Emile clapped.  
“I assume so.”  
“Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?”  
“I... recently engaged in a romantic relationship with Patton.”  
Emile gasped loudly.  
“Wowie! That’s a huge step forward!”, he cheered, “That’s amazing! How’s that been going?”  
“Very well.”, Logan’s blush grew bigger, “In full honesty, it feels... amazing. I don’t know how to properly describe it, really. But sometimes, I feel like I’m not doing enough to be an active part.”  
“It all needs some time to develop, and it’s best for that to let it happen organically.”, Emile reassured the teen, “I guess you two are at the very beginning of your relationship, right?”  
“Yes.”  
“See? Take your time, I’m sure whatever you do now is just fine.”  
After getting a little insight on what happened in Logan’s life since the last time Dr. Picani had seen the teen, they went into further depth in some topics before the time was up.  
“Well then, good bye Logan!”, Emile waved, “See you in our next virtual session!”  
“Have a good day, Dr. Picani.”, with that, Logan hung up.  
He sighed.  
He needed some distraction.  
The therapy session helped a little. Letting out all the things that had been running through Logan’s head felt good. But they also followed him now.  
The imagine of his parents appearing in the living room.  
The memory of the small cut he endured when he sliced the apple.  
It wasn’t enough to push him over the edge, luckily, but he knew that feeling of discomfort would only grow if he didn’t do anything about it.  
He decided to change into a more comfortable set of clothes, that being his pajamas and the owl cardigan.  
He left his room, aiming to go to Patton’s.  
To his surprise, the other teen left his door open.  
Logan peeked in, spotting Patton, laying on his bed, playing on his Nintendo Switch, which had been decorated with various stickers on top of the Animal Crossing print.  
Patton noticed Logan in his peripheral view.  
He turned his head and smiled at his boyfriend.  
“Heya!”, Patton sat up, making space for Logan, “Did the session go well?”  
“I would say so.”, Logan took a seat in front of Patton, “We already made a plan for the next session.”  
“That’s nice!”, the dark blond teen put down his console for a second, revealing that he had been playing Animal Crossing, “I’m glad this works out for you.”  
“I really need to thank you for that.”, Logan smiled, “Without you, I wouldn’t even be in this place right now.”  
“I’m just glad you were open enough to accept our help...”, Patton mumbled.

_“Pat, sweetie, are you okay?”, Catherine asked her son, who silently had been poking at his food._   
_He hadn’t eaten a lot, almost nothing at all the past few weeks._   
_“I’m fine.”, Patton lied, “I’m just not that hungry.”_   
_Patton had been miserable for a while now._   
_All he wanted to do was to disappear._   
_He put on a mask of cheeriness every time he was with his parents, or Logan. Or anyone for that matter._   
_He always had been the “happy pappy Patton”. He wasn’t allowed to feel bad._

**_No one likes you._ **   
**_Logan only sticks around because he doesn’t want to be alone._ **   
**_You’re too naive, it’s a wonder you haven’t been taken advantage of yet._ **   
**_Why are you still here?_ **   
**_Just leave already._ **   
**_Your parents wouldn’t care._ **   
**_They’d be happy if you were gone._ **

_“.... I’ll take a bath.”, Patton got up from his seat._   
_“Pat, please.”, Catherine placed a hand on her sons wrist, “Eat something. Anything.”_   
_“Like I said, I’m not hungry.”, Patton claimed once again._   
_“Patton, something‘s clearly bothering you.”, Mathew finally spoke up as well, “Please talk to us.”_   
_“I said I’m fine!”, Patton yelled frustrated, “Just- Leave me alone!”_   
_He stormed off, making his way to the bathroom._   
_He locked the door, making sure that his parents had no chance of getting in easily._   
_He then stood in front of the mirror, brushing his hair out of his face._

**_You look better with half your face hidden, fatty._ **

_It felt like his reflection was talking to him. It started doing that a while ago. Every time Patton saw himself, a more angry and disgusted version of him would stare back._

**_And you think Logan would ever like you? Ugly bitch._ **   
**_Your teeth are literally rotting out of your mouth, I doubt anyone would want to kiss that._ **   
**_Why prolong the inevitable?_ **   
**_Do it, pussy._ **

_“Why are you so mean to me...?”, Patton asked himself._

**_Because fuck you, that’s why._ **   
**_You’re doing too much, you’re only annoying everybody._ **   
**_Your grades suck, you social life sucks, everything about you sucks._ **   
**_Your freckles make you look like the moon, full of craters._ **

_“Please stop...”, tears were streaming down his face._

**_You know how to stop me._ **   
**_Come on._ **   
**_Make today your death day._ **

_“But I don’t-“_

**_“BuT i DoN’t WaNt To DiE!”_ **   
**_Save it._ **   
**_Just do it._ **

_Today was the day._   
_Today, Patton would finally pull through._   
_He got his phone from his pocket and unlocked it._   
_Despite him not wanting to leave the living world, he knew that day would eventually come._   
_So he made preparations by writing a good bye letter on his phone. He was too scared to write one on paper, just in case someone accidentally stumbled across that._   
_He placed the phone, notes app open, on the sink, so his parents would easily find it._   
_Next, he prepared the bathtub. He let it fill with water, set to the hottest setting._   
_That would help the blood flow faster._   
_He then rummaged in the cabinet under the sink, looking for his dads razors._

_“I’m sorry, but I really need to check on him.”, Catherine got up from her seat. Her worries made her lose appetite anyways._   
_“I’ll come with you.”, Mathew felt the same way._   
_The parents went upstairs, walking up to the bathroom door._   
_They heard the sound of water filling the tub, nothing else._   
_The mother knocked three times._   
_“Patton, sweetie?”_   
_No response._   
_“Patton?”, she called out again._   
_Still nothing._   
_“I’m coming in, okay?”, she asked, trying to open the door._   
_“Huh?”, she pushed the handle multiple times, “It’s locked!”, she exclaimed in shock._   
_“What?!”, Mathew tried for himself._   
_“Patton?!”, Catherine’s worries made her yell in panic._   
_“Step aside.”, Mathew carefully pushed his wife aside._   
_He grabbed the door handle and with a swing threw himself against the door._   
_He did that a few times until the lock broke, forcing the door to open._   
_“Pat- OH MY GOD!”, Mathew yelled as he saw his son, unconscious, hanging over the bathtub._   
_“Cat, call an ambulance! Now!”_

_When Patton woke up, he didn’t expect to be in the hospital._   
_“... This... is not where I wanted to be.”, he uttered to himself._   
_He sounded.... disappointed._

**_Wow, you’re even too dumb to die, huh?_ **

_“God, shut up.”, Patton sat up, his arm clearly hurting, his head hazy._   
_So was his vision, he didn’t have his glasses._   
_He let out a big sigh._   
_As if that was a spell that summoned doctors, a doctor came walking in in that exact moment._   
_“Mr. Hart!”, she exclaimed, “You’re awake!”_

**_Sadly._ **

_“Y-yeah... what happened?”, he asked._

_After a brief explanation and some checkups, Patton was allowed to go back to his hospital room. When he entered, he didn’t expect to meet his parents._   
_“Patton! Sweetie!”, Catherine cried out relieved. She had been crying prior, but her sons appearance made her cry even more. She ran towards his only child and gave him a tight hug, patting his head._   
_“Please don’t ever scare us like that ever again!”, she sobbed in his shoulder, “We love you, please, please, please don’t do that ever again!”_   
_“You can always come and talk to us.”, Mathew made his way to his crying wife, and exhausted son, “You don’t have to deal with your problems all by yourself, you know?”_   
_“I... don’t want to be a burden...”, Patton quietly admitted._   
_“You’re not!”, Mathew countered, “You’re never a burden! You’re our son!”_

_“You want to send me to a psych ward?”, Patton nervously played with his fingers._   
_He just had arrived back home._   
_“The doctor recommended it to us.”, Catherine explained carefully._   
_“But isn’t that really expensive?”, was Patton’s main worry._   
_“Leave the finances to us.”, Mathew reassured his son, “As long as it helps you get better, we don’t care how much money we have to pay.”_   
_“No, I don’t want you to be in debt because of me!”, Patton protested, “I- I’m sure I can handle somehow!”_   
_“Pat, please.”, Catherine rubbed her sons shoulder, “It’s fine, really. We have some savings we can dip into, it’s gonna be okay.”_   
_“No, please-“, Patton nervously waved with his hands, “What about school? I’m going to miss a bunch when I leave for... that hospital.”_   
_“Don’t worry about that either.”, the mother reassured, “I’m sure Logan will bring us your homework and work through it with you once you’re back.”_

_Right._   
_Logan._

_“... But what do I tell him?”, Patton wondered, head sunken, “We’re going to miss our 14th birthday too, most likely...”_   
_“I promise you, we’re gonna celebrate that once you’re back.”, Mathew smiled._   
_“That’s not the same...”_   
_“Please.”, Catherine plead once again, “You’re not doing this for us, but for yourself.”_   
_“But you’re the ones suffering from it.”, Patton pointed out._   
_“I promise you, we won’t.”, the mother noted once more, “I swear.”_

“...”, Logan remained quiet. He had to swallow the information he just had gotten first.  
“I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have- hah- I should have just stayed quiet....”, Patton hid in the hood of his onesie.  
“No!”, Logan realized his mishap, “I just... needed to comprehend what you just told me.”  
“Oh...”, Patton perked up, “Y-yeah, makes sense...”  
“I can reassure you, I stuck with you because I genuinely enjoy your presence.”, Logan told his boyfriend, “I am honestly surprised you stuck with me.”  
Patton leaped forward, wrapping his arms around Logan’s neck.  
“Hehe, well, look at us now!”, he smiled at the taller teen.  
Taken aback a little, Logan quickly collected himself and smiled back.  
He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead onto Patton’s.  
He let that moment sink in until realization hit him.  
“Have you been having a crush on me for over three years?”, he asked carefully.  
“Hehe, yeah.”, Patton chuckled, “But the wait was worth it!”  
Logan wanted to argue about how Patton could have just talked to him much sooner. But considering Patton’s nature, and also recent events, he figured, that that had never been an option in the first place. Plus, it wouldn’t change much now, that everything is in the past.  
So he decided to let the topic rest.  
Instead, he exhaled softly and returned back to enjoying the little bonding moment him and Patton had.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sleepover doesn't end as ideal as some may have hoped for. And no one really knows who's at fault.
> 
> Trigger warnings: mentions of implied suicide, mentions of near death experience, mentions of death

“Foul beast!”, Janus yelled at Remus, “You will never own me!”  
The two of them were still practicing for the play.  
“How sweet!”, Remus clapped his hands, a devilish smile spread across his face, “Your soul belongs to me! You sold it to me after all!”  
“You-“, Janus wanted to recite his next line, however, the sound of his phone ringing interrupted him.  
He retrieved his phone from his pocked and checked the caller ID.  
“Ah, it’s mom.”, he muttered while picking up, “Yeah?”  
“Hi, Janus!”, Erika greeted her son, “Your father is on his way to pick you and your brother up. He should be there in 15 minutes.”  
“Ah...”, a hint of sadness came through in Janus’s voice, “Understood. I’ll let Virgil know. Mhm. See you later, bye.”  
He hung up and put his phone away.  
“Well, it’s time to pack my stuff.”, Janus told Remus.  
“Aw, you’re leaving?”, the twin tilted his head.  
“Yes.”, Janus confirmed, “My dad is already on his way.”  
“Awww fuck.”, Remus stretched his arms, “This was a lot of fun! Your acting as amazing!”  
“Likewise.”, Janus gave back the compliment, “I don’t quite understand why you didn’t get the role of the Devil last year.”  
“Eh, I guess my reputation was at fault, heh.”, Remus snorted, “Which is ironic, because teachers and students alike thought I crawled out of hell every morning.”  
Janus giggled.  
“Let’s use the remaining quarter hour and annoy our brothers.”, he then suggested.  
“Yehehehessss!”, Remus laughed, “Let’s go!”  
They quickly made their way downstairs. However, Remus stopped at the last step, silently holding Janus back.  
“Wh-“  
“Shhh!”, Remus hushed him, “Look at how mesmerized my brother is.”, he whispered, pointing at Roman, who sat on the sofa with Virgil. The latter took over the final boss this time around, while Roman had been watching in awe.  
“Does that mean something?”, Janus wondered.  
“That means, he’s starting to develop a crush, heh.”  
“... On my brother?”, Janus raised an eyebrow. Remus nodded excitedly.  
“But knowing his ego, Roman won’t admit it most likely.”, Remus waved it off, “But at least I can tease him again, hehehe.”  
“Knowing Virgil, he most likely won’t reciprocate those feelings though.”, Janus filled in, “Roman is probably a bit too much for him.”  
“Does he even like dudes?”, Remus wondered.  
“Yes.”, Janus confirmed.  
“Hm...”, Remus placed a finger on his chin, “How about we matchmake them!”, he then suggested.  
“No.”, Janus immediately denied, “You’re insane.”  
“I know.”, Remus chuckled, “But listen, Roman wanted to do the same with me if I ended up having a crush.”  
“But you-“  
“Soooo, it’s only fair to get back at him.”  
“That...”, Janus thought for a moment, “... is a stupid idea. I wouldn’t do that to my brother.”  
“Aww, damn it.”, Remus sighed, “I guess I’m alone on that mission then.”  
“Don’t go too far please though.”, Janus requested, “I don’t want to see Virgil emotionally hurt in any way, shape, or form.”  
“Of course, or course.”, Remus agreed.  
“Sadly, we have to break up their little... bonding moment or whatever.”, Janus hopped off the last step and made his way towards the sofa.  
“Virgil?”, he asked, “Dad is about to pick us up.”  
“Huh, ‘kay then.”, The younger brother shrugged, “When I’m done with this boss.”  
“Did you pack your things yet?”, Janus wondered.  
“Yup.”, Virgil replied, emphasizing the p.  
“I suppose you can finish your game then.”, Janus nodded.  
“It’s a pity you have to leave already.”, Roman sulked, but tried to hide that with a pompous voice.  
“It’s not like we’ll see each other again tomorrow.”, Virgil uttered while being focused on defeating the end boss.  
“Yo, Roman, your gay is showing!”, Remus yelled from the stairs.  
Romans eyes shut wide open, his face flushed. He jumped on the sofa, so he had an easier time to turn his upper body around.  
“It is not!”, he yelled at his twin.  
“It sure is.”, Remus grinned, “Look at how red you are.”  
Janus suppressed a giggle.  
Roman grumbled annoyed, but also embarrassed.  
“Aww, look at you all flustered, hehe.”, Remus teased even more.  
“Remus, stop tormenting your brother!”, came a female voice from the kitchen.  
“Sorry mom.”, Remus apologized half serious.  
“You’re not sorry.”, Roman glared at his brother.  
“Yeah, no shit.”, Remus mouthed.  
Roman stuck his tongue out. So did Remus.  
“FINALLY!”, Virgil suddenly exclaimed, surprising pretty much everyone around him.  
“You defeated them?!”, Roman turned back around, glancing at Virgil with glistening eyes.  
“Hoooooly shit!”, Virgil leaned back, exhaling, “That was so tough! I remember why I don’t like that level! You owe me big time for that, Princey.”  
“Take him out on a date!”, Remus threw in.  
“Remus!”, Roman turned his head again.  
“You wouldn’t dare.”, Virgil teased.  
“Ah!”, Roman put his attention back to the smaller teen, “Are you doubting my abilities to swoon men?”  
“Hehe, yeah.”, Virgil laughed tiredly.  
“How dare you!”, Roman jumped up, “I will take you out on the best date you’ve ever been to, that’s both a threat and a promise!”  
“Wait, what?”, Virgil exclaimed. He actually didn’t expect for Roman to take that step.  
“I didn’t-“, he was perplexed, “Like, for real?”  
“Of course!”, Roman puffed his chest out, “I never break promises! Nor threats for that matter.”  
“What-“, Virgil shook his head, “What the fuck is up with you? We visit you guys once and you immediately want to romance me? The hell?”  
“Uh-“, Virgils questions hit the twin right in his ego, so hard, that he lost his cool.  
Even Remus noticed that.  
“Shit, maybe I did go too far...”, he uttered.  
Janus shot him a glare.  
A glare that could have killed a person.  
Remus knew he messed up big time.  
“I-I’m sorry...”, he immediately apologized to Janus.  
But Janus didn’t feel like hearing the apology out.  
“I shouldn’t have accepted your offer.”, he hissed, jaw clenched shut.  
“Dee-“  
“It’s Janus to you.”, the blond teen grabbed his bag, “Let’s wait outside, Virge.”  
“On my way.”, Virgil put the controller on the coffee desk and made his way around the sofa, to grab his bag as well.  
Before leaving, Janus peeked inside the kitchen.  
“Thank you for having us.”, he nodded towards the mothers.  
“No problem.”, Anne smiled awkwardly, waving at the guest.  
“Good bye.”, Janus then said while making his way to the front entrance. Virgil decided to remain quiet for the rest of the very short stay.  
Once the shoes were on, the Storm brothers silently left the house.  
“Who would have thought both of them were such a nightmare?”, Virgil uttered.  
“They are identical twins after all.”, Janus added.  
Back inside, Remus stared at the door, his mouth slightly open, his hand clenching onto the railing of the stairs.  
Roman on the other hand had a hard time focusing on just one spot. His eyes nervously darted back and forth between the same five spots.  
“Boys?”, Anne slowly made her way out of the kitchen, checking on her sons.  
“You...”, Remus muttered, “YOU DUMB MOTHERFUCKER!”  
He directed his rage at his twin.  
“What are you blaming me for?!”, Roman shot an angry look at Remus, “You were the one who started teasing me!”  
“You didn’t have to go that far!”  
“You didn’t have to make fun of me in the first place!”  
“Boys!”, Maria stepped in, she had been in the kitchen as well, “Calm down!”  
“How the fuck am I supposed to calm down if I have this piece of shit brother near me?!”, Remus yelled aggressively.  
“Excuse me?!”, Roman took extreme offense, “At least I know how to behave!”  
“Yeah, sure, Prince Fuckwit!”, Remus spat back, “We all saw how well behaved you are when you threatened to take the emo nightmare out on a date!”  
“I was obviously joking about the threatening part!”  
“Okay enough!”, Anne yelled, “Both of you, in your rooms! You two need to cool off!”  
Without hesitation, Remus dashed upstairs, instantly heading inside his room. He banged the door shut behind him.  
He leaned against the door and slid down.  
He let out a frustrated yell.  
“For fucks sake!”, he banged the floor with his fist, “Why can’t I have nice things for once in my pathetic life?!”  
Tears streamed down his cheeks. He wiped a few before burying his face in his arms and knees.  
On the other side of the hallway, Roman sat in the same position. The only difference being that he didn’t cry.  
He just sat there. Contemplating.  
Why did Virgils reaction break him so much?  
He slowly glanced up from the ground and spotted the long thin package in the corner of his room.  
“Augh, dang it.”, he thought out loud, frustrated, “I forgot to give Virgil his stupid wallscroll.”  
He got up from the ground, making his way to the package.  
“I doubt he’d still want that.”, he grabbed the cardboard and scratched at it a little.

The next day in school seemed highly tense.  
While Patton and Logan had enjoyed their bonding time the night prior, consisting of cuddling, watching a movie and falling asleep in each other’s arms, feeling very refreshed because of that, the twins on the other hand seemed rather gloomy.  
Roman and Remus avoided each other like the plague. Yet, they still wanted to hang out with Logan and Patton.  
Although Remus was more stuck around Logan and Roman with Patton.  
Remus leaned against the wall, next to Logan, while Roman had his back turned on the entire group, arms crossed.  
Neither boyfriend dared to asked what happened. However they couldn’t deal with the thick air either.  
“Is.... everything okay?”, Patton asked carefully, preparing for the worst.  
But neither twin spoke up.  
Patton waved Logan down. The taller teen bent down a little.  
“Maybe we should talk to them separately.”, Patton whispered in his partners ear. Logan nodded.  
He stood straight again, turning towards Remus.  
“Remus.”, he called out to him.  
“... What?”, he sulked.  
“I have a question regarding the science club. Would you mind coming with me?”, Logan lied.  
Remus sighed.  
“Sure.”, he kicked himself off the wall and silently followed Logan, as the taller boy took the lead.  
“Let’s head to the cafeteria for now.”, he suggested.  
“Whatever, dork.”, Remus shrugged.  
Patton waited for the other two to be out of earshot. He then put his attention to the remaining twin.  
“Roman?”, he asked again, “What’s wrong?”  
Roman let out a groan.  
“I messed up.”, he admitted, turning around, facing Patton, “I messed up big time. But I wasn’t the only one in the wrong though!”  
“Why? What happened?”, Patton tilted his head to the side.  
“Okay, basically, I asked Virgil if he could beat a boss in Kingdom Hearts for me.”, Roman started explaining, “Not that I wasn’t able to do it myself, of course, but he got annoyed after I tried two times. Anyways, he beat he boss, he told me I owed him and Remus had the idea to blurt out that I should take Virgil out on a date! Like, pah, why-“, the twin wildly flapped around with his hands, trying to distract from the fact that a blush crept up his face, “Why would I ever do that, hahah?”  
“What else happened?”, Patton poked a little further into the matter.  
Roman inhaled.  
“I may have asked Virgil out on a date.”  
Silence.  
Patton blinked a few times.  
“But.... you just said-“  
“I know what I said!”, Roman crossed his arms, pouting, “But Remus was clearly challenging me! Not only him, but Virgil too! But to be fair, I have to admit, I may have gone overboard.”, he sighed, “Virgil didn’t really like my approach. Neither did Janus. He’s now mad at Remus and I think I ruined their friendship...”  
“Oh boy...”, Patton scratched his head, “That’s a tough cookie to eat...”  
“I really don’t know what to do.”, Roman let his shoulders drop, “I think this time I messed up for good.”  
“No, no, no!”, Patton comforted Roman, “There’s still a chance! You just have to let the tension pass and apologize to everyone involved.”  
“You say that as if that’s an easy deed to do.”, Roman huffed.  
“I really don’t wanna say it, but...”, the smaller teen shrugged, “.... sometimes, you have to push your ego aside.”  
“Even if I’m not entirely in the wrong?”, Roman wondered.  
“You’re still in the wrong though.”, Patton pointed out.  
“Right, right...”, Roman nodded, brushing his hand through his hair, “It seems like  
I have to swallow my pride.”

“So, whaddya want, nerdy wolverine?”, Remus asked while taking a seat.  
Logan sat down across from the twin.  
“I must apologize, I lied.”, Logan explained, “I wanted to talk to you privately.”  
“You could have just said so.”, Remus scoffed.  
“Could I?”, Logan raised an eyebrow, hands folded on the table.  
“I take every chance I get to stay away from my dumbass brother, so.”, Remus explained, “You could have said anything and I would have agreed.”  
“So you did have a disagreement with Roman.”, the teen with glasses concluded.  
“Disagreement is a bit of an understatement.”, Remus grumbled, “That fucker ruined my chances with Dee.”  
“How so?”, Logan wondered, “If you wish to tell me about it that is.”  
Remus took a moment to think, but decided to tell his former roommate the story.  
He retold the same story Roman had told Patton. Only more emotionally charged.  
“And now Janus hates me!”, he finished his side of things.  
“I see...”, Logan nodded.  
“You can’t help me, can you?”, Remus pointed a finger at Logan.  
“Sadly, I can’t.”. Logan shook his head, “But I wanted to give you the chance to talk about the issue.”  
“... Thanks, I guess?”, Remus furrowed his eyebrows.  
“I apologize for not being of great help.”, the taller teen adjusted his glasses, mostly to hide his face with his hand.  
“It’s fine or whatever.”, Remus waved it off, “At least you listened to me and didn’t invalidate me like everyone else does.”  
“What you feel is valid.”, Logan reminded Remus, “Something I need to learn for myself as well.”  
“You’re great, Logan.”, Remus genuinely smiled, “Patton can consider himself lucky to have you.”  
“It would be a more accurate statement if you turn the subjects around.”, Logan corrected with a slight blush, “I’m happy to have him. I’d probably be... dead, by now.”  
“Yeah, dying sucks.”, Remus shrugged, “Been there twice.”

_Maybe even a third time soon._

“I hope it won’t happen again.”, Logan glanced up at Remus, “I couldn’t bear losing a friend.”

_Or... maybe not._

“A-ah, hehe.”, Remus laughed nervously, “Well, I don’t do coke anymore, so the chances are pretty good that I’ll stay alive for a while.”  
“I’m glad to hear that.”, Logan smiled lightly.  
He then checked his wristwatch.  
“We should head out.”, he stood up, “Classes are starting shortly.”

Art class would be a mess.  
The three teens that shared a table knew that.  
Virgil remained focused on his work, trying to ignore the feeling of anxiousness building up in his stomach.  
He fearfully anticipated the twins arrival.  
His foot had been tapping the floor rapidly, his sketch lines were wigglier than usual.  
Then it happened.  
The blotches of red and green made their appearance in Virgils peripheral.  
He took a deep breath and ignored them.

_Was now the right time...?_

Roman glanced at Virgil.  
He noticed how hard the purple haired boy tried to avoid meeting his eyes.  
“Vir-“, Roman spoke up, but decided last second to remain quiet.

_Come on._   
_Apologize already._

“I-“, he tried again.  
Virgil groaned out of frustration.  
“What is it, Prince Nightmare?”, he asked aggressively.

_Ouch._

“I...”, Roman bit his tongue, “I.... still have your wallscroll. I forgot to give it to you during... the... sleepover.”

_Dang it._

“Huh.”, escaped Virgils mouth. He was clearly more relaxed than before, but still tense.  
“I’ll pick it up sometime this week or whatever.”, he told the twin.  
He was then reminded of something.  
“Wait, I got something.”, he said.  
Virgil grabbed his backpack and rummaged in the front pocket. Rustly, plasticy sounds Remus had been all too familiar with Remus emerged from the bag.  
“Here.”, Virgil threw a handful of Kandi in front of Remus, “Janus asked me to give them back to you. He took them with him by accident.”  
Remus silently stared at the jewelry.  
He spotted the yellow-black Kandi he’d gifted Janus on purpose.  
He slowly reached for it, as if his body moved on its own.  
When he had it in both hands he stared at it for a little bit before he ripped it apart, letting the beads roll onto the floor.  
The noise must have been so off putting, that the whole class, including Mx. Talyn, put their attention to it. Dozens of eyes were now staring at Remus.  
“Rem-“  
“SHUT UP!”  
Remus didn’t even give his brother a chance to even remotely console him in any way.  
The messier twin shot up, tipping the chair over, and dashed for the door.  
Roman instantly ran after him.  
“Remus, wait!”, he cried out to the other brother.  
“Leave me alone!”, Remus yelled while storming towards the main entrance.  
“I won’t!”, Roman protested, having a hard time to keep up with Remus.  
“I said-“, Remus stopped in his tracks, fists balled and shivering, “Leave me alone!”  
He swung a fist at Roman, punching him right in the stomach.  
The latter dropped to his knees and tried to ease the pain by holding onto his upper body.  
Remus didn’t care.  
He left the school building, making his way back home.  
Even if that was a 40 minute walk.  
Roman on the other hand, still on the floor, felt like passing out, right then and there.  
Mx. Talyn quickly found him though and brought him right to the school nurse.  
Luckily, he didn’t pass out, but the pain was still pretty existent.

Remus didn’t make it too far.  
After the first ten minutes, a car stopped next to him.  
It was the red cab his family owned. And on the drivers seat had been Maria.  
“Remus!”, she rolled down the window, “Principal Sanders called me, are you okay?”  
Remus felt miserable.  
He probably looked that part.  
“Clearly, I’m not.”, he hissed.  
Maria put on the warn lights, unbuckled, and got out of the car.  
“Come on, I’ll bring you home.”, she guided her step son to the passenger seat, “I took the day off.”  
“You act as if I care.”, Remus uttered angrily.  
But also exhausted.  
He was clearly done with today’s shenanigans.  
When the teen had been seated in the car, Maria took over the buckling up for him. It was unclear if Remus just didn’t have the energy to do it himself, or if there had been a different motive behind that.  
The step mother closed the car door and quickly dashed around the front to the drivers seat. After closing her own door and buckling up herself, she turned the warn lights off and drove off, back home.  
Remus had been so exhausted, that he fell asleep in the car. It maybe took half a radio song for his eyes to become heavy and falling shut.

“Do you really wanna sleep through out the entire trip?”  
A deep male voice woke Remus up again.  
He blinked a few times, to adjust to the light.  
“What...?”, he looked around.  
He still had been in the red Cabrio.  
But the person in the drivers seat hadn’t been Maria.  
“Dad?”, Remus asked in disbelief, “What are you- Did we get into a car crash?!”  
“Oh, no, don’t worry.”, Romulus smiled, “You fell asleep, that’s all.”  
“Forever sleep or normal sleep?”, Remus questioned.  
“Normal.”, Romulus filled in, “I don’t wanna see you forever sleeping anytime soon.”  
This version of Romulus felt different for Remus.  
Warm, kind, embracing. How the real father was.  
The version he had met in his near death experiences felt rather cold. Distant. Fake.  
“Where are we going?”, Remus asked out of curiosity. His dream vision didn’t seem to make it past the cars glass windows.  
“We’re on our way to visit someone.” Romulus informed his son, “It depends on you how long it’ll take though.”  
“H-how?”, Remus raised an eyebrow, “I’m not the driver.”  
Romulus ignored that statement and instead turned the radio on. It played some old classic rock songs.  
“What are you doing here anyways?”, Remus wondered.  
“Can’t I check up on my son every once in a while?”, Romulus shot a quick glance at his child.  
“I mean, I guess, but why now?”, Remus rolled his eyes.  
“You’re feeling alone again.”, Romulus said, “I don’t want you to feel that way.”  
“I- I don’t-“  
“Don’t lie to me, hehe.”, Romulus chuckled, “You’re a bad liar.”  
“... Fair.”, Remus slid down his seat, “I’m just bound to feel alone, don’t I? I fucked up my friendship with someone I really wanted to be close to, not to mention the person I was the closest to fucking died in front of me.”  
“I wish I hadn’t.”, Romulus confessed, “I didn’t plan to leave you guys behind so soon.”  
“I... know.”, Remus sighed, “I don’t blame you at all. I blame the damn universe. I’m just gonna stay alone then before anything else happens.”  
“You’re not alone, you know that, right?”, the father questioned while taking a turn to the left.  
“I am though.”, Remus countered, “Mom clearly favors Roman. And the others are glad when I’m not around. It just doesn’t feel like anyone really bothers with me or cares about me.”  
“Didn’t Logan say he was your friend?”, Romulus asked.  
“How do you know Logan?”  
“I’m made from your unconsciousness.”, the grown man explained, “Of course I know Logan. I also know Patton. And I’m pretty sure they see you as their friend.”  
Remus remained quiet.  
“Anne loves you.”, Romulus continued, “I get where your anger comes from. Roman had always been a mommy's child and that still shows.”, he laughed, “Trust me, when you two were babies, he cried whenever I tried to hold him.”  
“And here I am, being all alone, again.”, Remus concluded.  
“You’re missing the point.”, Romulus pulled into.... somewhere, and turned off the engine, “Despite me being no longer with you, you still have people to hold dearly. Come on.”  
Romulus unbuckled and left the car.  
“Can I even leave?”, Remus yelled after him. He still didn’t see any trace of actual surroundings outside of the car.  
“Try it.”, Romulus smiled at him before closing the door shut.  
Remus unbuckled as well and slowly opened the door.  
He noticed the world started building the more he opened the car door. He hopped out and realized where Romulus had taken him to.  
“Home?”, Remus analyzed the house, “But why?”  
“I told you, we were visiting someone, come on!”, Romulus waved his son over, “We don’t wanna be late.”  
“What do you mean late?!”, Remus complained while closing the door shut and running after his father.  
Once again, Romulus didn’t reply. What he did instead was ringing the doorbell.  
“Who are we visiting?”, Remus demanded to know.  
“You’ll see.”, Romulus smiled once again.  
The door opened by itself. No one on the other side actively opened it for them.  
Romulus made his way inside. So did Remus.  
The two males ended up in what seemed like the Kingleys living room. However, a lot of things were at miss.  
The stairway, that led to the bedrooms, and The kitchen were gone. Instead, those have been replaced by a wall full of framed pictures.  
Remus took a closer look at the pictures. They were moving, like little movies.  
Remus focused on one picture.  
It showed Romulus, happily making pancakes. There was no sound, but indicated from his lips, he’d been whistling a tune.  
The next picture showed the first time Anne brought Maria home.  
Remus remembered how mad he had gotten on that day. It showed in the picture, it was slightly blurry.  
The next picture showed the mental hospital room Remus had spent weeks in the past summer. Remy came in, followed by the Hart family and Logan.  
“See?”, Romulus stepped up behind Remus, “You clearly cherish a lot of memories from the past.”, he explained, “You even framed them neatly.”  
“Yeah, because me meeting my step mom for the first time was such a great day for me.”, he snarled sarcastically.  
“It wasn’t.”, Romulus agreed, “But it must mean something, that you keep that memory close.”  
“Why don’t you two take a seat?”, a female voice came from the men’s right side.  
They turned their head, facing a familiar face.  
At least to Remus.  
“Maria?”, he asked confused, “What the fuck are you doing in my unconscious?”  
“Beats me.”, Maria shrugged, “It’s your unconscious, I don’t have any say in my existence here.”  
“Got me there.”, Remus nodded defeated.  
“Now come on.”, Maria patted the sofa, “Have a seat, won’t ya?”  
The father son duo complied and made their way to the couch.  
Remus took a seat in the middle, while Romulus sat to his right. Maria chose to sit on the left side.  
“Thank you for taking care of my family, Maria.”, Romulus put his attention to the other adult, “It means a lot to me.”  
“Of course.”, Maria smiled, “They’re my family now too.”  
“You’re doing a great job.”, Romulus complimented the step mother.  
“Thanks.”, the woman accepted the compliment, “You’re too kind.”  
“That’s how Remus remembers me.”  
“You are kind though.”, Remus added.  
“True, hehe.”, Romulus chuckled.  
“So what is this?”, Remus hastily waved with his hands, “Are we here for coffee and cake or what?”  
“You’re not allowed to have either of those.”, Maria reminded Remus.  
“Wow, even in my dreams you remember my diet.”, Remus said that as if it had been an insult.  
But then he remembered, that that had been a caring quality Maria had.  
“I only want the best for you.”, she told Remus, giving his hair a ruffle.  
“I know, I know...”, Remus uttered timidly, “Thanks.”  
The adults picked up their conversation again, while the only teen in the dream was slowly drifting off into sleep.  
Ironic, falling asleep in a dream.

Turns out, him falling asleep in the dream was an indicator that he woke up in real life.  
“Had a good nap?”, Maria smiled at him. They just arrived at home.  
“Oddly enough, yeah.”, Remus yawned, “I saw dad again.”  
“Doesn’t that usually indicate nightmares?”, Maria unbuckled.  
“Normally, yeah.”, Remus also unbuckled, “But this time it was actually just a normal dream.”  
“How about we talk about that once we made it inside?”, the step mom suggested.  
Remus replied by leaving the car before her.  
Once inside, with shoes kicked off, the duo took a seat on the sofa.  
“So, what did you dream about?”, Maria guided the discussion back to the original topic.  
“Basically, dad was driving me home.”, Remus explained, “We were just chatting I guess. It was kinda weird.”  
“As long as it was pleasant, I’d say that’s improvement.”, Maria nodded.  
“Yeah.”, Remus agreed with a nod as well, “You... were in the dream too.”  
“I was?”, the woman wondered.  
“Mhm.”, Remus played with his fingers, “Dad drove me home and we visited you. He complimented your parenting skills.”  
“O-oh.”, Maria was flattered, “Thanks.”  
“Don’t look too much into it...”, Remus still tried to keep his act up.  
“I won’t, I won’t.”, Maria fully understood, “But aside from that, what happened in school? We need to talk about that.”  
Remus sighed.  
“I punched Roman in the guts.”, he admitted.  
“... You what?”, Maria’s eyes grew wide, “I wasn’t even told you did that! Mr. Sanders said you ran out of school!”  
“Oh, he doesn’t know?”, Remus wondered confused, “Roman must have kept his mouth shut.”  
“Does that have something to do with the whole argument, that happened yesterday?”  
“B-basically.”, Remus pulled his legs close to his body.  
“But why did you run out in the first place?”  
“In art class, Virgil gave me back all the Kandi Janus had made. Including... the one I gifted him.”, a tear rolled down Remus’s cheek. However, he didn’t react to it, he just let it fall freely.  
“I’m sorry...”, Maria placed her hand on Remus’s head, giving him a few comforting pats.  
“I ran out of class, Roman followed me, he didn’t leave me alone, so I punched him. That’s basically the whole story.”, Remus finished his side of things, “I... don’t know if I can go to school again tomorrow. I really don’t feel that well.”  
“That’s a first that you admit to that.”, Maria noticed surprised, “I’ll call in that you’re sick.”  
“Thanks Ma-“, Remus bit his tongue for a second, “... m-mom.”  
Maria gasped a little.  
“Remus, I-“  
Before Maria could say anything, she was embraced in a hug by a sobbing Remus. She instinctively hugged him back, comforting him with kind and soft spoken words.

“He did what?”, Janus asked, trying to hide his shock.  
Lunchtime rolled around, him and Virgil were at their hide out outside again.  
“Just ripped it apart.”, Virgil repeated himself.  
“And you said it was the yellow and black one?”, Janus wanted to know.  
“Yeah.”, Virgil confirmed, “Is that of importance?”  
“No.”, Janus lied, “I was just making sure I understood you.”  
“At least we’re being left alone again.”, Virgil shrugged.  
“You didn’t enjoy the weekend, I assume?”, Janus raised his eyebrow.  
“I mean, I did, but Roman had an insufferable ego, and Remus is... well, Remus.”, Virgil waved around with one hand, “At least Patton and Logan are decent, even if they were constantly glued together. Patton makes some damn good waffles though.”  
“I’ll let him know you said that.”, came a voice from one of the trees.  
Roman had made his way to the hide out, trying to talk to the brothers.  
He seemed to have mostly recovered from Remus’s punch.  
“Oh, goodie!”; Janus fake cheered, “What do you want?”  
“To...”, Roman swallowed, “To apologize. Mainly to Virgil.”  
“Aha.”, Virgil raised an eyebrow, which was pretty much invisible to the others due to his bangs covering them.  
“Look, I went too far yesterday.”, Roman nervously ran a hand through his hair, “I should have just ignored Remus’s teasing, we do that constantly to each other. I don’t know what has gotten into me, but I really should have just shut up.”  
“Hm...”, Virgil scratched his neck, “To be fair, I did kind of push you as well.”  
“I still shouldn’t have acted the way I did!”, Roman countered, “It was absolutely disgraceful! I’m usually much more romantic than that, but that’s not the point right now.”, Roman took a moment to catch a breath, “The point is, I’m sorry. I truly am.”  
Roman avoided eye contact, waiting for Virgil to respond and accept his apology.  
“Whatever.”, Virgil uttered.  
“Wh-“, Roman was taken aback, “Whatever?!”  
“Yeah, whatever.”, Virgil repeated himself, a little more angrily, “I don’t care. I’m just glad that this whole ordeal is done and over with.”  
“Ah.”, Roman thought he’d connected the dots, “You clearly mean the situation yesterda-“  
“I mean this entire friendship thing.”, Virgil corrected, “You’re too much, your brother is too much. I’m done.”  
Roman needed a second to properly take in what Virgil had just said.  
He swallowed hard.  
“Okay...”, he said, tone pressed, “I... will leave you alone then. See you later in theater class.”  
Roman took a few steps backwards before turning around and leaving entirely.  
He couldn’t distinguish what hurt him more that day.  
Remus’s punch.  
Or Virgil’s words.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before we get to the summary, a quick side note: So basically, I'm slowly reaching the end of what I have written of this fic so far, meaning daily updates will stop eventually (cuz I gotta write stuff to post ya know?). They'll continue for a little while though, so don't worry.  
> That's all, have fun reading. Kudos and comments are always appreciated!
> 
> The Kingsley family visits Romulus's grave. Logan has his first babysitting job.   
> Yeah that's... that's it I guess lmao
> 
> Trigger warnings: mentions of death, transphobia

A little over two weeks have passed since the sleep over.  
Sunday morning.  
The Kingsley family was on their way to their old home town.  
Remus stared out of the window, daydreaming. He had his headphones on, blasting rave music so loud, even Roman was able to hear it.  
Speaking of the cleaner twin, he’d been on his phone, texting Patton.

Pawton: heya is there a chance you could help me?  
Princey: sure  
Princey: I’m stuck in the car for a good hour anyways so  
Princey: what’s up?  
Pawton: I wanna take Logan on a date on our birthday but i dunno what to do really???? I never did that before  
Princey: I see...  
Princey: well, what does Logan enjoy doing?  
Pawton: he reads a lot  
Pawton: and studies a lot  
Princey: yeah a study date doesn’t sound fun at all  
Princey: what else you got?  
Pawton: he loves space! Like a lot!  
Princey: perfect!  
Princey: it may be too cold for star gazing, so maybe visiting an observatory would be a good idea!  
Pawton: there’s a small one in our local museum!!!  
Princey: see?  
Pawton: okay, I guess that takes care of the location  
Pawton: but what makes a date a date  
Pawton: I don’t want Logan to think this is just a normal hangout  
Princey: tough question...  
Princey: I usually go on dates to get to know the other person better  
Princey: but you and Logan have known each other almost your entire life  
Pawton: yeah that’s the thing  
Princey: try and make Logan feel special  
Princey: make him feel like he stepped into a dream come to life!  
Pawton: well that’s really ambitious  
Pawton: but how do I do that?  
Princey: I hate to disappoint but that’s something you need to figure out  
Princey: but if that cheers you up, I could help you with planning  
Pawton: that would be great, thank you so much!!!  
Pawton: I’m gonna make a scrap book entry  
Princey: that’s adorable haha  
Princey: keep me updated  
Pawton: will do!!!!

Patton did what he promised. Every few minutes he sent Roman a picture of his little scrap book project. Roman kept encouraging Patton to keep working.

Pawton: okay I think I’m about done  
Pawton: what do you think????

He sent another picture.  
The entry was... a lot. A lot of stickers and sticky notes and bubbly but messy writing.  
Roman loved it though. That was Patton’s full creativity working.

Princey: it’s marvelous!  
Princey: I’m sure Logan will be blown away by your date idea!  
Pawton: I sure hope so!!!  
Pawton: now I need to think of a good gift....  
Princey: that’s when you can go back to the studying stuff  
Princey: maybe a book about space would be nice  
Princey: unless he already has a ton of books on that  
Pawton: hmmm not really  
Pawton: he has a handful at best  
Princey: oh  
Princey: I expected his room to be filled with books to be honest  
Pawton: ah well  
Pawton: he never had a lot in his old home  
Pawton: he was able to cram all of his belongings in one sports bag when he moved in here  
Princey: my god.  
Princey: Remus already told me that Logan’s parents were... something  
Princey: but I didn’t think they’d be that bad  
Pawton: well there’s a good reason he doesn’t live with them anymore  
Princey: I know what I’m going to gift him then  
Princey: I wanna make sure he ends up living in a library  
Pawton: he’d sure love that hehe  
Princey: could you check what kind of books he already has?  
Princey: go on a secret mission or something so he doesn’t get a clue  
Pawton: oh he’s not home right now anyways  
Pawton: he got his first babysitting session today!!!  
Pawton: I offered to join, but he wanted to try it by himself  
Princey: I hope it’s going well for him then  
Pawton; I’m sure it is!!! I used to babysit that kiddo as well, he’s very well behaved

Patton got out of his room and made his way to Logan’s.  
When he peeked inside, he instantly spotted the few books he had been looking for on Logan’s desk.

Pawton: okay lemme send you a pic of the books

He quickly snapped a photo, making sure the titles were readable, and sent it to Roman.

Princey: he only has 4 books??? You can’t be serious  
Pawton: well again  
Pawton: he didn’t have much before  
Princey: yeah no, this is not acceptable  
Princey: make sure to make that birthday the best birthday he’s ever had  
Princey: Remus and I will help  
Pawton: thanks Roman!!!!  
Pawton: OH I HAVE AN IDEA  
Pawton: how about we throw a party after the date???  
Princey: I love that idea!

Roman shook Remus’s shoulder, to get his attention. The latter turned his head and put one earphone aside.  
“What?”, he asked annoyed. He was still not in good terms with Roman.  
“Okay, I know you still want to gut me-“, Roman admitted, but then showed his phone to his twin, “-but I want you to read this.”  
Remus groaned but complied. He quickly read the newer messages of the conversation.  
“Yeah, that sounds fun.”, Remus shrugged, “I’m in, but don’t think that’ll change anything between us.”  
He put his headphone back on and went back to day dreaming.  
Roman sighed.

Princey: Remus is in too  
Pawton: yay!!!!  
Pawton: are you getting along again?  
Princey: nope.  
Pawton: aw :(  
Princey: let’s just start thinking about some ideas  
Pawton: another scrap book entry!!!!!

Roman smiled and rolled his eyes in amusement.  
Time passed rather fast while making plans. Eventually, Anne announced their arrival.

Princey: talk to you later  
Princey: we’re going to be occupied for a while  
Pawton: okay bye bye!!!

The Kingsley family left the car somewhat simultaneously.  
Remus turned off his music on his phone and took off his headphones, letting them hang around his neck.  
It was Maria’s first time being a part of this tradition. Remus asked her personally to tag along.  
Speaking of, Maria had carried a bouquet of flowers and an unlit grave candle.  
The group of four silently entered the graveyard.  
The sound of gravel crunching underneath their feet, and the crinkly paper the flowers were wrapped in were the only sounds present.  
They walked not for too long before they came to a halt.  
“Roman?”, Anne called out to one of her sons, “Do you wanna lay the flowers down?”  
“Sure.”, Roman agreed. Maria handed him the flowers with a comforting smile.  
“Remus, do you wanna take over the candle?”, Maria put her attention to the other twin.  
“Yeah.”, Remus carefully grabbed the candle from his step mothers hand.  
The teen boys stepped up to the grave, which read “Romulus Rodriguez-Kingsley”.  
The brothers took a few silent moments to observe the grave.  
The grave wasn’t huge. It was an urn grave after all.  
It had a small light grey stone engraved with only the late fathers name. Not even the date of his death was written on it. It laid flat on the ground, leaving just enough space for the flowers and the candle the remaining family had brought.  
Roman let out a deep breath.  
He kneeled down and carefully placed the flowers on the left side of he grave.  
Remus followed shortly after, kneeling down as well and placing the candle at the bottom.  
“Does anyone have a lighter or something?”, Remus wondered.  
“Here.”, Maria handed him a box of matches.  
Remus slid the box open, got a match, lit it up with one swift motion and lit the candle.  
He then quickly tried to eliminating the flame in his fingers by shaking the match violently until it went out.  
Him and Roman took another silent moment to take everything in.  
“... It doesn’t get easier, huh?”, Roman spoke up first.  
“...Nope.”, Remus replied, “It doesn’t.”  
“How are you holding up?”, Roman wondered.  
“Somewhat... okay.”, Remus scratched his chin, “I don’t feel like joining dad for once.”  
Roman took a brave step and gave his brother a side hug.  
Instead of barking back, Remus let his anger at Roman subside and hugged him back, leaning his head onto his.

“Thank you for taking care of Gavin!”  
Logan timidly smiled at the mother of the kid he had been babysitting for the past two hours.  
Gavin, a nine year old boy, very well behaved, just like Patton told Roman.  
Well, he was a bit overly active, but that’s how kids were.  
“Did you have fun, sweetie?”, the mom asked her child.  
“Yeah!”, Gavin smiled widely, “Logan told me soooo much about space! It’s so cool!”  
“Sounds like you had a lot of fun then.”, the mother smiled back at Gavin, “How about you go wash your hands and then help me with dinner, huh?”  
“Yay!”, Gavin cheered before running off to the bathroom.  
“Again, thank you so much for watching him.”, the mother appreciated Logan’s efforts.  
“Of course.”, Logan nodded, “Thank you for giving me this opportunity.”  
“Patton recommended you, and I trust his judgment, hehe.”, the Mom giggled, “He’d been babysitting Gavin for years at this point. Oh, before I forget!”  
The parent rummaged in her handbag for a bit, until she found what she had been looking for. Her wallet.  
“I gotta pay you for your efforts, don’t I?”, she joked while getting a few bills out, “Here!”, she handed them to the teen boy.  
Logan took the bills with a small “Thank you.”  
He then took a closer look at how much he was given.  
“$150?”, he questioned, “For two hours? I-I can’t possibly take that much-“  
“It’s okay.”, the mother reassured Logan, “You did a fantastic job. Didn’t Patton tell you that we pay generously?”  
“A-are you sure I can-“  
“Yes, of course, hehe.”  
Logan looked at his payment one more time before slowly putting it in his pocket. He didn’t bring his wallet with him, he didn’t expect to be paid on the spot after all.  
“Thank you so much.”, he bowed slightly, showing his gratitude.  
“Anytime.”, the mom nodded, “I’ll call you, or Patton, if we need a babysitter again. Which might be pretty soon actually. But let’s keep that for another time.”  
Logan said his goodbyes to both Gavin and his mother before leaving the home.  
He called Mathew, asking him if he could pick the teen up.  
“Of course!”, Mathew said, “I’ll be there in 10 minutes!”  
Logan patiently waited at the sidewalk.  
A silver, very expensive looking car drove past him, making a turn in the neighbors driveway. Logan didn’t pay any more attention to that. Until his name had been called by the man who left the car.  
“Aren’t you Croft’s boy?”, he asked.  
A figurative lightning bold struck Logan.  
“Y-yes.”, he stuttered, trying to hide his shock, “That’s me.”  
“Logan, it was?”, the middle aged man asked, “I’m your fathers boss, Mr. McGee!”  
“Ah, p-pleasure to meet you.”

_Please, let Mathew arrive soon._

“I was disappointed you didn’t join the dinner I invited you on.”, the boss crossed his arms, “What happened? My daughter would have loved to meet you. She’s a nice girl.”  
“I... was sick.”, Logan lied.  
“That’s what Austin told me too.”, the boss shook his head, “What a pity. But maybe you’d like to meet her now? She’d be very excited.”  
“Uhm, I’m being picked up soon by my friends father.”, Logan held his hands up in defense, “He should be here any minute.”  
“Ah, well, can’t let him wait, right?”, McGee understood, “Maybe you know her already. Her name is Ashley. She goes to Sandersburgh High.”  
Logan thought for a second.

_Ashley McGee..._

“Wasn’t she part of the theater club?”, he remembered.  
“She was, yes.”, the father sighed, “But some rude, insane student bullied her out. He can be lucky we won’t sue him for ripping some of Ashley’s hair out. But she found a new passion in volleyball.”  
“Ah, I see...”, Logan said, nervously avoiding eye contact.  
“Just because she said the truth! Can you believe it?”, the adult kept venting, “The male main lead should go to a real male! Not some disguised girl who’s confused.”

_Is he talking about Janus?_

Logan bit his tongue.  
He knew if he argued against Mr. McGee’s blatant transphobia, his parents won’t hesitate to let their anger out on their son.  
So he remained quiet.  
“Don’t you agree?”, McGee then asked a question Logan didn’t need to be asked right now.  
“To be quite frank, I don’t understand theater.”, Logan decided to answer. It wasn’t even a lie, Logan really didn’t understand theater.  
“It’s not about that alone!”, McGee apparently still had more to say, “This whole trans thing is just a fad! Those poor kids are just confused because their hippie parents didn’t raise them right!”  
Anger bubbled up inside of Logan.  
If his fathers boss held such a blatant and hateful opinion on trans people, he’d probably think the same way about any other member of the LGBT+ community.  
“Your parents raised you right though.”, McGee gave Logan a pat on the shoulder, “I can tell.”

_Don’t._   
_Don’t say it._   
_Just pretend to agree._

“Y-yes.”, Logan lied again, “They... did.”  
Logan felt like he was about to throw up.  
He couldn’t even bear to say one nice thing about Austin and Susan.  
He felt goosebumps growing over his entire body, everything felt cold, but hot at the same time.

_Mathew will be here soon._   
_Calm down._

“Clearly!”, McGee smiled, “I’ve heard you’re a straight A student!”  
“Mhm.”, Logan nodded.  
“Maybe we could try again.”, the adult suddenly suggested, “I’ll invite you and your parents to another dinner!”  
“That-“  
“I’ll talk to Austin tomorrow, I hope you can make it this time around!”  
Panic rose in Logan’s chest. His legs clearly wanted to run the other way.  
“Then it’s settled.”, McGee decided for Logan, “See you at the dinner then. I’m sure my Ashley will be excited to finally meet you properly.”  
A honk came from behind Logan. He hastily turned his head. That’s when he spotted his escape. Mathews truck.  
“H-“, Logan coughed, “Have a pleasant afternoon.”, he stuttered before making a dash for the passenger side of the truck. He hopped in and buckled up in the speed of light.  
“Are you okay?”, Mathew noticed Logan’s strange behavior.  
“Just drive!”, Logan yelled in panic.  
Mathew hit the gas pedal, trying not to go too fast. He didn’t feel like getting a ticket anytime soon.  
Once him and Logan made it out of the street, Mathew tried again.  
“What happened?”, he asked, “Are you okay?”  
Logan remained quiet. He clawed the car seat, breathing heavily. His gaze seemed lost.  
“I take that as a no.”, Mathew thought out loud.  
Logan took a deep breath through his nose. He held it for a bit and exhaled loudly through his mouth.  
“That was Austin’s boss.”, he explained, “He invited me and my parents for dinner. Again.”  
“Oh no.”, Mathew exclaimed quietly.  
“He’s going to talk to Austin tomorrow.”, Logan dropped more information, “Not only that, his daughter attends the same high school as me and Patton. When she realizes that Patton and I are in a relationship, she’s going to tell her father and undoubtedly, that wouldn’t benefit me or my parents.”  
“We need to do something about your parents.”, Mathew said while taking a turn to the right, “This can’t go on forever. I’ll talk to Cat later.”  
“I only have to last one more year.”, Logan pointed out, “Once I’m 18, they hold no power over me anymore.”  
“But that can’t be the way you want to live, even if it’s just for another year.”, Mathew argued, “Let us at least come up with a back up plan.”  
“... Maybe the Storm family could help.”

Before Mathew and Logan made it back to the Hart home, they made a quick stop at the Storm’s apartment.  
Logan had sent Janus a text, asking if they could come for a quick visit.  
“Hey there!”, Erika was the one letting the guests in, “Come in, come in!”  
“Thanks.”, Mathew smiled. Logan quietly followed.  
“Janus already told us what’s going on.”, Erika closed the door behind her, “Feel free to take a seat.”  
The mother pointed at the sofa, where Casper had already been waiting.  
Mathew was the first one to take a seat next to the other father.  
Before Logan had the chance to take a seat himself, a “psst” caught his attention. He turned around and spotted Janus, waving Logan over to his room. The teen made his way over to Janus, who quickly opened the door fully for Logan to enter.  
“What’s going on?”, Janus asked after closing the door behind him.  
Before Logan replied, he analyzed Janus’s room a little.  
It was very clean and organized, but also had character with the decorations Janus chose. He then spotted the terrarium.  
“What animal are you housing?”, Logan asked out of curiosity.  
“A python.”, Janus decided to let Logan distract himself for a moment. He walked over to the terrarium, trying to find Medusa. To no avail.  
“She’s probably sleeping right now.”, he noted, “She’ll come out when she gets thirsty.”  
“Quite an interesting choice for a pet.”, Logan pointed out.  
“Virgil has a bird spider.”, Janus crossed his arms with a smile, “I guess having strange pets is a Storm family trait.”  
“I’m sure there are stranger options.”, Logan countered.  
“Like an octopus?”, Janus raised an eyebrow.  
Logan didn’t expect the other boy to bring up an octopus in particular, considering that had been Remus’s choice of pet.  
“Anyways, what’s going on?”, Janus tried to direct to the original topic at hand.  
Logan quickly recapped his story, from the point when his parents had thrown him out. He clearly had a hard time to do so, however he tried to maintain his composure nonetheless.  
“And no one called CPS?”, Janus wondered in shock.  
“My parents have this... talent to maintain a picture perfect family image outside of our private circle.”, Logan sighed, “The problem at hand is, is that if Austin’s boss finds out I’m gay, it will ultimately get to my parents somehow.”  
“And you said that boss is Ashley’s dad?”, Janus asked to make sure.  
“Yes.”, Logan confirmed.  
“That explains a lot, actually.”, Janus scratched his neck as he remembered Ashley’s remark, that made Remus go ballistic, “And now you’re terrified that Ashley will snitch on you.”  
“Exactly.”, Logan nodded, “If that information makes it to McGee, he will absolutely let that out on Austin, and in turn, him and Susan will let it out on me.”  
“I assume that’s why you’re here.”, Janus concluded, “To get some help regarding that.”  
Janus took a seat on his bed. He offered Logan a seat next to him. Logan denied. He’d rather use his energy to stand right now, even walk in circles, if it helped calming his nervousness.  
“That is clearly a case for CPS.”, Janus pressed, “You’ve been to the mental hospital because of them. They clearly failed their job as parents.”  
“But what if CPS will send me away?”, Logan questioned worried, “As much as I would love to cut ties with my parents, I could never imagine a life without Patton.”  
“Then maybe emancipation would be the better step for you to take.”, Janus suggested, “You have the age requirement and the valid reason for that. Your parents neglected and mentally harmed you with their behavior. Plus, that also means they still have to financially support you until you’re 18, even 21 if the court rules for that.”  
“... How do you know all of that?”, Logan wondered.  
“I would love to become a lawyer one day.”, Janus answered.  
“Impressive.”, the black haired teen complimented, “But do you think it would be worth it? Considering I’ll turn 18 in just a little over a year from now. Cases like these usually take months to be done and over with.”  
“The health and safety of a minor is at risk.”, Janus pointed out, “That should speed things up.”  
The blond teen stood up and made his way towards Logan.  
“If I were you, I’d look into it the moment you’re back at the Hart family residence.”, his face became sinister, “Make Austin’s and Susan’s life a living hell.”

Janus’s words stuck with Logan.  
Once he arrived back to his temporary home, he instantly dashed into his room to search the internet up and down to see what he was able to find.  
He was going to make his parents life living hell.  
He had been so eager to find out what he could do, that he didn’t hear the knock on his door.  
“Logan?”, Patton peeked his head in, “Everything okay in here?”  
“Oh, good afternoon Patton.”, Logan averted his gaze from the screen for a moment.  
“What are you up to?”, Patton walked into the room, closing the door behind him.  
“Ah, well, it’s quite a long story, really.”, Logan explained, “But just to quickly tell you what I’m doing on my laptop, Janus suggested to me that I should get emancipated from my patents.”  
“Oooh, that actually sounds like a good idea!”, Patton nodded, “I hope it’ll work out for you! Of course , I’m going to support you as good as I can, hehe.”  
“Thank you.”, Logan smiled at his partner.  
“Heh, I love it when you smile.”, Patton complimented timidly.  
Logan his his mouth with his hand, hiding an even bigger smile. A blush crept up his face.  
Patton chuckled, wrapping his arms around Logan’s neck.  
Logan let go of his face and wrapped his hand around Patton’s shoulders.  
“By the way-“, Patton broke the hug, “-how did babysitting Gavin go?”  
“Very well.”, Logan nodded, “He was easy to take care of. Although... I think I was overpaid a bit.”  
Patton let out another laugh.  
“No, they’re always that generous.”, he added, “But I understand where you’re coming from, I still feel bad for all the money they had given me.”  
“I’m truly grateful for that though.”, Logan admitted happily.  
“Same, heh.”, Patton agreed.  
“By the way.”, Logan tried redirecting the topic, “Do you have any particular wishes for your birthday? A certain present maybe?”  
Patton gasped.  
Logan was never the kind of person to get gifts for Patton.  
Not that Patton ever wanted a gift. He was glad if he could spend time and celebrate with Logan.  
On hindsight, Patton finally understood why Logan wasn’t able to get a gift. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to eat.  
But this time was different.  
“Uh, gosh, I didn’t think you’d get me something, uhm...”, Patton scratched his scalp, “I actually have a wishlist, that I give to my parents every year. I’m sure they’ll share it with you. Oh, and also, don’t make any plans on our birthday!”  
“You say that as if I ever made plans outside of our birthday celebration.”, Logan reminded his longtime friend.  
“I’m just saying, hehe!”, Patton grinned widely.

Later that night, everyone settled to bed and went to sleep.  
Aside from Logan.  
While he did lay down, he wasn’t able to fall asleep.  
The days events got to his head, keeping him up.  
He let out a frustrated groan.  
The teen grabbed his phone to check the time. The display showed 01:18 AM.  
“That’s less than ideal.”, Logan muttered.  
He got up, stretched is body, and made his way outside his room.  
He didn’t really know what he wanted to do.  
Maybe grab a glass of water? Or even a cup of tea?  
Maybe he just needed warmth. He unintentionally made his way towards Patton’s door and knocked three times.

_Wait, no, I shouldn’t wake him up for such a small matte-_

His thought was interrupted by the door suddenly swinging open.  
“Logan?”, Patton asked, tiredly rubbing his eye with his sleeve.  
“My apologies, I didn’t intend to wake you u-“  
Patton interrupted Logan once again by grabbing his hand and dragging him inside.  
“Patton?”, Logan raised an eyebrow. He took over closing the door, as Patton was pulling him towards his bed.  
Patton was clearly not fully present. His half absent mind somehow operated his body semi-well. He tiredly plopped back on his bed, making space for Logan to join. The smaller teen opened his arms, indicating that Logan should lay in them.  
“Patton, are you even aware of what you’re doing?”, Logan questioned.  
“Cuddle...”, came from the half asleep teen.  
Logan sighed with a smile and gave in.  
He laid down, covering himself and Patton with the blanket, and let Patton wrap his arms around him.  
Patton mumbled something, which Logan was able to decipher as “Good night.”.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So basically, this chapter starts with fluff, but ends with angst.  
> Enjoy. :)  
> Also, a new friend joins the gang!
> 
> Trigger warnings: Deadnaming, homophobia, transphobia, implication of abuse

Even though he hadn’t gotten a full nights sleep, Logan felt very refreshed when him and Patton were woken up by Catherine.  
“Good morning, sleepy heads!”, she sung sweetly as she opened the curtains of Patton’s window.  
The teen boys grumbled and shifted in the bed.  
“I’ll be downstairs, making breakfast.”, the mother added, “Don’t take too long, you two!”  
With that, Catherine left the room, leaving the door slightly open.  
Logan wanted to sit up, but was stopped by a pair of arms still wrapped around him.  
“Patton.”, he hummed.  
“Five more minutes...”, Patton mumbled, nuzzling his head in his pillow.  
“We have to get up and get ready for school.”, Logan tried to argue, but he knew he had no chance.  
“I’m sleepy...”, Patton whined.  
“Obviously.”, Logan pointed out, “We still have to get up though.”  
“Hmmm...”, the smaller teen sighed, “Okay...”  
Patton let go of Logan before stretching his entire body. Logan quickly got up and made space for Patton to do so properly.  
“I’ll go ahead and get ready first, if that’s okay.”, Logan informed his partner.  
“Mmmhm.”, Patton agreed, “See you downstairs.”  
Once Logan left with a wave, Patton grabbed his glasses and his phone from the bedside table. He checked the shopping app. Just to see if the items he had put on his wishlist were still available.  
Most of them were cute decor items, like plushies and stickers. A bunch of Nintendo Switch games were gathered on that list too. As well as some more animal themed clothing items like hoodies, shirts and onesies.  
That was his “official” list he had given to his parents.  
He had a secondary list with things he’d loved to get, but was too anxious or ashamed of.  
It didn’t have much. Only a handful of things. But those things were rather... feminine. At least by societies standards.  
A few skirts and a dress.  
Animal themed, of course.  
Patton loved the way skirts and dresses looked, especially the flowy kinds.  
However, he was too scared to wear them. He didn’t want to be made fun of. He knew how disrespectful and mean people could be, especially high school students.  
And yet, he still found himself imagining wearing those clothes. He’d possibly look very adorable.  
If it weren’t for his already existing insecurities.  
One of the skirts that caught his eye was a light brown circle skirt with suspenders, that looked like cat paws. Above the hem were some embroideries of different little cats. It was overall rather simple, but he adored the simplicity. That skirt even had been 10% off it’s original price.

_Maybe one day, when I have the confidence._

He sighed and closed the app again.  
He could still wear other cute clothes without being possibly ridiculed by close minded teens.  
Speaking of, he decided to finally get out of bed and make his way to the closet, to pick out some fresh clothes. He decided on a pair of basic light brown pants and a slightly oversized long sleeved shirt. It was primarily white with light blue stripes on the sleeves. A cute frog was printed on the front.  
He sighed again before getting changed.

The insecure thoughts still stuck with Patton, even when him and Logan were dropped off at Sandersburgh High.  
However, those thoughts quickly disappeared when he laid eyes on Remus.  
For once, the twins had managed to arrive before the couple.  
And Patton was astounded.  
Not by their punctuality, but by the fact that Remus wore a skirt like it had been his business all alone.  
Which it was.  
It fit Remus’s overall loud style quite well. A purple and black pleated skirt, with some faux leather straps and chains hanging off of it. He combined that with his gingham button up, a black tank top, dark green tights and bright green platform boots.  
Patton couldn’t stop staring.  
“Like what ya see?”, Remus smirked at him.  
“Oh, I-“, Patton nervously stuttered.  
“Can’t a guy wear a skirt in peace?”, he wondered jokingly.  
“No! It’s not that!”, Patton defended himself, “It’s-“  
The dark blond teen bit his tongue and shifted his gaze to the ground.  
“F-forget about it...”, he waved it off.

_I wish I had that confidence._

Remus shot a worried look at Logan. He just shrugged.  
“Pat-“  
“Ew, what the fuck, you creep!”  
Remus got interrupted by girl yelling at him.  
Ashley.  
Logan, eyes growing wide, immediately took a step back from Patton. The latter looked at the taller teen rather puzzled.  
“What?”, he raised an eyebrow at her, “Want a round two of me ripping your hair out?”  
“Why are you wearing a skirt?”, Ashley questioned, “You’re probably as much of a weirdo as Serpin.”  
“Serpin?”, Remus gave Roman a confused look.  
“Dunno.”, he uttered back, shrugging.  
“Angelica?”, Ashley questioned, “The girl who pretends to be a boy?”  
It took a moment for Remus until it made click in his head.  
“Are you still too stupid to understand that **his** name is **Janus**?”, Remus balled his fists in anger.  
“Oh please.”, Ashley shook her head, “I’ve known Angelica before she was even adopted by those weird ass gay men.”  
“I thought Janus had a mother and a father?”, Logan pointed out in form of a question.  
“Ha!”, Ashley laughed, “One of those freaks just pretends to be a woman! That’s where Angelica got the idea from in the first place! The whole Storm family is disgusting! And so are you Kingsleys!”  
Remus took a deep breath. A very deep breath.  
“You can be lucky I have to spare you right now, or else I’d be kicked off this school.”, he growled angrily through his teeth, “Otherwise I’d fully scalp your head and wear it as a wig.”  
“Ewww-“  
“Insulting me is one thing.”, Remus took a step closer to Ashley, eyes filled with rage, “But insulting my family is another.”  
He stopped mere inches in front of Ashley’s face.  
“If you want to live a peaceful life, you better shut your whore ass mouth.”, he threatened, “You tried me once before. Don’t try me again.”  
Remus took a step back, and gave Ashley a wide grin, as if nothing ever happened.  
“Also, I look so much better in a skirt than your flat ass ever will, honey doo-doo.”  
“You’re fucking insane!”, Ashley yelled in fear.  
“Oh, I know!”, Remus agreed, “You say that as if it wasn’t clear already!”  
“You disgust me!”, with that, Ashley stomped away.  
“I sure hope I do!”, Remus cheered, waving.  
What Remus had failed to notice on time was Janus’s and Virgil’s presence.  
To be fair, they were around the corner, so there would have been no chance to have been spotted.  
The brothers had seen the spectacle going down. Hearing Ashley say, that their family was disgusting did have a bad punch to it. Erika and Casper tried their hardest to make their adopted sons feel like family, especially after what both of the teen boys had been through.  
Janus and Virgil glanced at each other. Virgils face indicated that he had been hurt, but also annoyed. Janus on the other hand tried to hide anger.  
They silently went on their way.  
“Logan?”, Patton put his attention to his boyfriend, “What’s wrong?”  
Logan bit his lip.  
He wasn’t too sure if he should tell Patton the truth, or keep the information to himself. However, he concluded quickly that it would have been unfair, so he decided to tell the truth.  
“Ashley is my fathers boss’s daughter.”, he confessed, “You can imagine what opinions he holds of people like us.”  
“Being a cuntbag seems to be genetic then, huh?”, Remus, who had rejoined the group, pointed out.  
“Obviously, it was her upbringing, that made her be that way.”, Logan corrected, completely missing the sarcasm, “It would be disastrous if she found out that I was in a relationship with another boy.”  
When Patton heard Logan say that, his insecurity kicked once again. Adding to the previous inner conflict he already had.  
What if Logan wanted to break up because of this? Patton would understand, totally, but he’d be destroyed as well.  
But he didn’t want to add to any problems Logan already had with his parents.  
He shrunk more and more in his posture.  
“But that’s why I’m trying to get emancipated.”, Logan added, “Janus suggested that to me.”  
“Huh....”, Remus crossed his arms and stared to the ground.  
He was still hurt, clearly.  
“Hey, uh...”, Patton spoke up, quietly, “Class starts soon...”  
He just wanted to get out of the spot, to somehow clear his mind. Or at least distract from the icky thoughts he had.  
Everyone silently nodded and awkwardly went their merry way.

The beat down feeling followed everyone up until lunch.  
Patton’s insecurities. Logan’s fears. Remus’s heartbreak. Roman’s bruised ego.  
Those things didn’t seem to leave the four boys alone anytime soon.  
And it showed.  
“Janus, do you really think this is a good idea?”, Virgil asked his brother. Him and Janus had spotted the group from afar. But even from that distance, they noticed the bad aura around the group of four.  
“I just wish to talk to Logan.”, Janus explained, “I promised I’d help him. With parents like his, he clearly needs it.”  
“Okay, whatever.”, Virgil grumbled, “Let’s get this over with then.”  
Janus took the lead, quietly followed by Virgil. Once they arrived at their destination, Janus tapped on Logan’s shoulder. The latter jumped a little. He had been extremely tense.  
“Ah, did I scare you?”, Janus asked slightly concerned.  
Logan fixed his glasses.  
“A little, yes.”, he admitted, “How can I help you?”  
“Actually, I’m here to help you.”, Janus pointed out, “Like I promised. I have some papers in my locker that may be of help for your current situation.”  
“Right, yes.”, Logan remembered, “Thank you so much.”  
As he stood up, Janus took the chance and shot a glance at Remus. The twin clearly tried do avoid eye contact.  
Janus felt sick to his stomach. In a way that told the blond boy, that he had been in the wrong.  
Yes, Remus teased Roman, but that’s what most brothers did. Him and Virgil did that all the time. Roman didn’t need to go so far. Also, Janus didn’t even have any right to be mad when he wasn’t even directly involved. He wasn’t involved at all actually. He had just been a bystander. He didn’t need to be offended for Virgil. Virgil could do that himself.  
At least, that was his thought process.

_Maybe that was the wrong thing to do..._

“I’ll be right back.”, Logan announced to the group as he left with the Storm brothers.  
“Yo, Sprinkles, what’s nagging at your tail?”, Remus asked Patton.  
Patton had been quietly sitting at the table. He didn’t even get lunch.  
“... Do you think Logan might break up with me?”, he asked the twins.  
They gave each other a shocked look before turning back to Patton.  
“What makes you think that?”, Roman questioned.  
“The thing he said earlier about Ashley and her dad.”, Patton rubbed the back of his head with his oversized sleeve.  
“Oh, fuck them.”, Remus spat, “I don’t think Logan would go so far only for those ignorant butts.”  
“Still, I can’t get rid of the feeling that he actually might go so far.”, Patton sniffled, “I-I wouldn’t blame him. I don’t think I’m worth the trouble anyway...”  
“What is this negative talk you’re spouting?”, Roman scolded, “You’re absolutely worth it! There is a reason why he’s with you in the first place!”  
“Yeah, what Sugar Vomit just said.”, Remus pointed a thumb at his brother.  
“Look, him and Janus are already working on a plan, so that you guys can live freely.”, Roman ignored the childish name calling Remus just did, “It may take a little while, but it’ll work out! I’m sure of it!”  
“I hope so....”, Patton rubbed his upper arms, “I’m too terrified to take him on the date now though... What if we get spotted?”  
“I did say to make him feel like he stepped into a dream come to life.”, Roman sighed, “But maybe, for now, you two should pretend to be just friends as long as you’re in public. Just for the safety of both of you.”  
“Or I’ll join ya as your personal bodyguard, hehe.”, Remus laughed.  
“Well, there goes the romance.”, Roman raised his eyebrow with a grin.  
“Would there even be romance if they had to pretend to be just friends?”, Remus wondered.  
“Oh, you’re right.”, Roman realized his mistake.  
While the twins were bantering, Patton leaned his head on his hands, sighing heavily.  
He felt like crying, but tried keeping it together. He could cry once he was back home locked in his own room.  
Slowly, the noise around Patton disappeared. At least to him. His eyes focused on one spot which was in the middle of nowhere.  
“Anyways!”, Roman suddenly exclaimed heroically, “We’re still going to make sure that you two are going to have the best birthday party afterwards!”  
Patton didn’t reply.  
His mind seemed to have been wandering off.  
“Patton?”, Roman tried getting the other teens attention.  
“Earth to Sprinkles!”, Remus waved his hand in front of Patton’s face.  
No response.  
“Hmm.”, Remus dropped his hand, “It’ll pass.”  
Patton blinked slowly.  
Eventually, he lifted his head off his hands and shook it a little.  
“Sorry.”, he apologized, “I was zoning out.”  
“We noticed.”, Remus said, “You good?”  
“Yeah, just...”, Patton scratched his scalp, “Zoning out a little.”  
“You already said that.”, Roman pointed out.  
“Gosh, my mind is scrambled.”, Patton massaged his temples, “I just don’t know what to do. I probably need to talk to Logan later.”

Once the twins made it to theater class, they spotted a bunch of new faces. A large group of students, which built up instruments of different kinds.  
“Looks like we’re finally reciting the songs, huh?”, Roman elbowed his brother.  
“Oh, I am so ready.”, Remus grinned.  
“Roman! Remus!”, Mx. Joan, who stood with the band, called the twins over.  
“You haven’t seen Janus by any chance?”, the teacher asked.  
“‘Not here at least.”, Roman shrugged.  
“That’s okay, I can tell him when he’s here.”, Mx. Joan waved it off, “Every Monday, we’re going to practice with the band. I hope you two are ready for your solos. Speaking of, Diane?”  
They called out to another student most likely.  
A tall girl; she wore identical boots to Remus; with long black hair, sporting a full on witchy goth attire, holding a trumpet in her hand, reacted to the name. She made her way over to the teacher, taking her sweet time with that. Her long black skirt flowing with every step she took.  
“This is Diane Wataru.”, Mx. Joan introduced her, “She’s a main vocalist in the band club, and plays the trumpet and the piano. She also took over Ashley’s role as the demon Wrath.”  
“Nice boots.”, Diane complimented Remus.  
“Likewise.”, he complimented back.  
“She has a few solo parts as well, so maybe the three of you, and also Janus, can practice together.”, Mx. Joan informed the group of teens. They all agreed with nods and thumbs up.  
“Good, I will check up on the rest then.”, with that, the teacher left the teens alone.  
“Okay, where did you get that skirt from?”, Diane asked Remus, “I absolutely love it.”  
“Thrifted. I think.”, the brother looked down at himself, “Actually, I think I snagged it from my mom. I dunno.”  
“Your mom seems to have a cool style as well then.”, Diane concluded.  
“Not anymore. I think it’s from her teenage years.”, Remus shrugged.  
“Yeah, could be.”, Roman agreed.  
“Just a wild guess, but I assume you’re the Devil in our play?”, Diane pointed at Remus.  
“Hm, what gave it away?”, Remus raised an eyebrow, “The mustache? The boots?”  
“I’m starting to like you.”, Diane smirked. She then put her attention to Roman.  
“What do you have to offer?”, she placed a hand on her hip, “You look like the “good” twin.” Diane used her free hand to put the word “good” in air quotations.  
“I am!”, Roman puffed his chest out.  
“Bullshit.”, Remus cackled, “You know good and bad is all made up none sense.”  
“That’s why I used air quotations.”, Diane snipped with one finger.  
She then noticed the Disney themed shirt Roman was wearing.  
“Aye, Tangled is one of my favorite Disney movies!”, she pointed at the top.  
“A fellow Disney fan?”, Roman smiled, “How marvelous!”  
“Okay, I’m starting to like the both of you, heh.”  
The twins spent their entire time with Diane that afternoon.  
Turns out, she was a Senior. Which didn’t bother the Juniors at all. She even joked that the brothers could call her senpai, but immediately told them not to, as she already hated that back when she used to live in Japan for a few years.  
Janus, who eventually joined the group, felt even more like an outcast than usual. Roman, Remus and Diane seemed to have gotten along just perfectly, whereas Janus felt like he had been invading a private meeting.  
However, no one seemed to have noticed Janus’s feelings, as he was really good at hiding them.  
There also had been some tension between him and the twins, so that may have contributed to that as well.  
That probably had been the longest theater class Janus had endured.  
For once, he didn’t want to be the outcast.  
Or maybe those were his true feelings all along and he had lied to himself the entire time.  
Maybe he wanted to be included. To be part of it.  
Whenever Remus chuckled at one of Diane’s joked, Janus’s inner frown grew bigger.  
Whenever Roman and Diane made a Disney reference, Janus felt the need to punch the ground.  
And he didn’t even like Roman all that much.  
It was as if Diane had replaced him.

_Maybe I was wrong._   
_Maybe I shouldn’t have pushed them away._   
_Especially for a problem that wasn’t mine._

He shook the thoughts of how his head.  
“So, you disagree?”, Diane asked Janus.

_What? What were they talking about?_

“No.”, Janus lied, “There was a lose hair stuck to my face. I shook it off.”  
“Ah, ‘kay then.”, Diane put her attention back to the twins.  
Janus’s eyes darted around, trying to find Virgil.  
To no success.  
Which added to his feeling of being an outcast even more.  
Eventually, the bell rang.  
While the students were slowly leaving the auditorium, Janus stayed behind.  
He was leaning against the stage, arms crossed.  
“Yo.”, a voice popped up behind him, making him jump a little.  
“Jeez, dude, what happened to you while I was painting the scenery?”  
“What do you mean, Virgil?”, Janus asked, as if his brother hadn’t scared him.  
“You know exactly what I mean.”, Virgil jumped off of the stage, “You’re usually not that easy to frighten.”  
“I wasn’t.”, Janus avoided eye contact.  
“Sure, Jan.”, Virgil elbowed his brothers arm, “Come on, our parents are probably already waiting for us.”

When the brothers made it outside, they saw the usual group of four, consisting of the Kingsley twins, and Logan and Patton, hanging out, possibly waiting to be picked up as well.  
“Odd.”, Janus uttered, “Usually, our parents would be here by now. So would be theirs.”  
“Maybe there was an accident and the roads are blocked.”, Virgil shrugged, “We should still keep a distance though.”  
“I have a question.”, Janus glanced at the tinier teen.  
“What?”, Virgil raised an eyebrow at him.  
“It involves the twins.”, Janus warned, “Mostly Remus, but still.”  
“Ugh.”, Virgil rolled his eyes.  
“Just objectively speaking, do you think my anger towards Remus was justified?”, Janus wondered, “Considering I became angry about something both twins were at fault at. Plus, I don’t think I had any right to feel that way. I wasn’t the one being... strangely asked out on a date.”  
“Well, yeah, I guess.”, Virgil shrugged, his face showing clear sign of unease, “I dunno, I can’t really be objective here. But I guess you’re right.”  
“So?”, Janus glanced back up, towards the group of friends, “Answer my question.”  
“Remus didn’t really have to tease Roman.”, Virgil said, “But they’re siblings, siblings do stuff like that. I mean, look at us.”, Virgil joked, making Janus chuckle a little, “I guess, in the end, it was Roman who made me feel uncomfortable. And he apologized. So I’d say... objectively... your hate towards Remus makes no sense.”  
“That means I have some apologizing to do.”, Janus was ready to head to Remus, but Virgil stopped him by grabbing his arm.  
“Dude, why?”, he asked panicky, “Aren’t you glad they’re leaving us alone?”  
“To be honest with you, no.”, Janus admitted, “I’m not glad. Quite the opposite, really. I feel even worse than before.”  
Virgil slowly let go of his brothers arm, giving him a confused look.  
Janus closed his eyes and exhaled.  
“Very well.”, he nodded before turning on his heel. He didn’t make it far, as a silver car stopped in front of the group of four boys.  
Janus decided to stay back for now.  
Logan knew that car all too well.  
On the drivers seat sat his father Austin. While on the passenger side, Susan had exited the vehicle.  
“You’re coming back with us.”, she told her child.  
“I-“, Logan stuttered, “I will do no such thing, you hypocrite.”  
“Are those your parents?”, Remus wondered.  
Logan gulped, and nodded.  
“Neato!”, Remus took off his button up shirt and handed that to Roman, “Finally, a car to smash!”  
“What freak out of hell are you supposed to be?”, Susan insulted Remus with a disgusted look on her face.  
“Remus, don’t.”, Logan held the twin back.  
“Come on, get in the car.”, Susan demanded.  
“Don’t do it.”, Roman whispered loudly, holding onto Logan’s shoulder.  
“I... have to.”, Logan looked down to the ground, “They still have the right to demand for me to come home.”  
“Logan, please-!”, Patton held onto his boyfriends hand, tears welling up in his eyes.  
“I’m sorry, Patton.”, Logan didn’t even dare to look Patton in the eyes. He lightly wiggled his hand out of Patton’s and made his way to the backseat of the car.  
“Good.”, Susan also got back inside the vehicle.  
Once everyone had been buckled up, and Austin drove ahead, Susan held her hand towards her son.  
“What?”, he asked.  
“Your phone.”, Susan demanded once again.  
Without complaining, Logan retrieved his phone from his school bag and handed it to his mother.  
“We were invited to another dinner.”, the neglectful mother turned her child’s phone off, “You will be joining us this time.”  
“Before that though-“, Austin spoke up, “-we will teach you some manners.”  
That didn’t sound good. The way Austin said that didn’t make Logan feel all too comfortable. Not that he already had been comfortable before in the presence of his awful ancestors.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is Logan okay? You'll find out in this chapter.
> 
> Trigger warnings: descriptions of physical abuse

The manners Austin spoke of were multiple whips on Logan’s back with a leather belt.  
Topless.  
The skin on his back had torn open by now.  
The whips were followed by a few kicks, making the open wounds burn even more.  
Logan laid on the bathroom floor. His body hurt too much to move.  
Austin had been done with his “teaching manners” for an hour now, and yet, Logan wasn’t able to get up.  
He was freezing.  
But no one was there to help him. Or give him warmth.  
He wouldn’t allow himself to cry while in the presence of his parents. He didn’t even let out screams of pain when the leather his his back with full force.  
Eventually, Logan was able to get up from the floor. It took a few minutes, but he made it with shaky arms.  
He held onto the sink to pull himself up.  
His vision had been hazy, probably from the excruciating pain coming from his back.  
One spot on the left side of his ribcage hurt him especially.  
“Probably a broken rib...”, he concluded.  
When he looked at himself in the mirror, he noticed how emotionless he’d gotten again.  
“One more year.”, he told himself, “I can manage. For one more year.”  
Unlucky for Logan, his belongings were still at Patton’s place. However, he wasn’t allowed to leave the house, unless it was for school.  
So he had to sleep in the shirt he’d worn all day. The fabric burned against Logan’s back as he laid on his bed.  
He was lucky to still have a bed.  
The pain had been unbearable. He wasn’t able to sleep once again.  
“Okay, where is his room?”, Logan heard a voice whisper outside of his room.  
“Over there.”, a second voice popped up.  
Logan got up, slowly, and put his glasses on. He limped towards the door and opened it ever so slightly.  
He spotted two shadowy figures in the hallway, one of which had a flashlight in their hands.  
“There?”, the person with the flashlight turned around, shining the light in Logan’s eyes.  
He squinted and took a step back.  
“Oh my gosh!”, the second voice exclaimed quietly, “Sorry Logan!”  
Logan was finally able to make out who the voices belonged to.  
“Patton? Remus?”, he rubbed his eyes, “What-“  
“We’re here to get you out of this jail.”, Remus explained briefly, “Come on, before your parents wake up!”  
“How did you-“  
“We’ll explain once we made it out of here, now come on!”, Remus rushed, “Time’s ticking!”  
Considering he needed to be quiet in the first place, Logan took the opportunity to _slowly_ snuck his way down the hall, making the pain bearable.  
Eventually, the group of three made it outside.  
Remus was the one to close the door behind him. He then kneeled in front of the lock.  
He probably had picked it open in the first place.  
“Quick, in the car!”, Patton pointed at a small, dark purple car.  
Without protest, Logan complied. Him and Patton decided to sit in the back, fully knowing that Remus wanted the front seat.  
Logan had a hard time getting into the car though.  
“Are you okay?”, Patton, who already took his seat, asked.  
“N-no...”, Logan held onto the car door.  
“Wait, I gotcha.”, Remus, who seemed to have finished locking the door again, offered his support.  
It took a while, but Logan finally had his seat as well.  
Once Remus sat in the front, the driver took off.  
“Logan, Diane, Diane, Logan.” Remus quickly intruded the two friends of his, “I call her D.W.”  
“Pleasure to meet’cha.”, Diane gave a salute.  
“What... what’s going on?”, Logan had been in no mindset to comprehend the situation he was in.  
“We’re helping you!”, Remus cheered, happy that their plan was a success.  
“We had to get you out of there.”, Patton explained, “We were worried sick! We called, like, a million, trillion, gazillion times but you didn’t pick up!”  
“Susan confiscated my phone...”, Logan muttered.  
“Soooo.”, Remus chimed in, “We came up with this plan to bust you out of there. Diane can drive, I can lock pick seamlessly and Patton... well, he knew the layout of your house.”  
“And where are we going?”, Logan wondered.  
“For now you’re gonna stay at my place.”, Diane said, “I heard you wanted to get emancipated, I can help with that.”  
“You can?”  
“I’m emancipated as well.”  
“Ah...”, Logan nodded.  
That movement caused him to become nauseous though.  
“M-Maybe you should- should get me to a hospital...”, he was able to squeeze out before falling unconscious.

When he woke up, he hadn’t been in the hospital, as he expected he would.  
Instead, he found himself in an unknown apartment.  
“There he is.”, a female voice cheered.  
Logan looked to his left and spotted Diane, sitting at her window still, having a smoke. The sun slowly rose behind her.  
“Aren’t you too young to smoke?”, was the first thing he needed an answer to.  
“Does it matter?”, Diane shrugged, pressing the cigarette out in a small glass ash tray. She then hopped inside and closed the window.  
“Why am I not in the hospital?”, Logan continued his questioning.  
“They’d call your parents, that’s why.”, Diane took a seat on the coffee table in front of Logan, “Don’t worry, we checked on you. All your wounds have been taken care of.”  
“By you?”  
“Nah.”, Diane shook her head, “Remus. He knows a whole lot about that sort of stuff.”  
“Where is he?”  
“Back home.”, the black haired girl filled in, “So is your little boyfriend. I brought them home while you were zonked out.”  
“You know you basically kidnapped me, right?”, Logan then realized.  
“Hey, better to be kidnapped by some cool ass teens than to be abused by some fucked up adults.”, Diane chuckled, “You’re gonna stay here for the day.”  
“What about school?”, the Junior student wondered.  
“Let that be my worries.”, Diane got up from the table, “For now, let’s work on your emancipation. That’ll be your ticket out.”  
Turns out, Dianes plan to avoid school, was to pretend to be Logan’s mother and call in sick. And it worked surprisingly well. She did the same for herself as well. Although, she could call sick whenever she wanted to, considering her circumstances.

Patton didn’t get to sleep, and it showed. Huge bags were under his eyes, yawns escaped his mouth every few seconds.  
“Patton!”, Janus called out to him.  
Virgil stood on the other side of the lockers, watching from afar.  
“Ah, good morning Ja-“, another yawn, “Janus.”  
“What happened yesterday?”, Janus asked, “Where’s Logan?”  
“He’s with Diane.”, Patton informed the taller teen.  
“Wataru?”, Janus questioned.  
“Yeah.”, Patton nodded tiredly, “They’re working on Logan’s emancipation.”  
Janus grumbled a little and crossed his arms.  
“What does she know?”, he asked.  
“She’s emancipated herself.”, Patton said, “She told me and Remus that she’s going to go to her lawyer later with Logan, and they’ll take care of that.”  
“Is Logan okay at least?”  
Patton shook his head.  
“His parents... must have let their anger out on him.”  
When Janus heard that, he had an instant flashback to his childhood.  
“I-I see...”  
“He’s been taken care of though.”  
“Okay.”, Janus nodded. He then spotted two adults barging in.  
Those were the same adults that took Logan with them yesterday.  
Susan and Austin.  
“Hart!”, the male yelled at Patton.  
He squeaked in fear, trying to quickly walk away.  
However the grown up was faster. He caught up to Patton and aggressively grabbed his shoulder.  
“Excuse me?”, Janus stepped in, “Leave Patton alone!”  
“Where is he?”, Austin’s grip got tighter.  
Patton let out several whines and whimpers of pain.  
“Sir-!”, Janus tried again.  
“You better stay out of this!”, Susan hissed at Janus.  
“Please! Let go!”, Patton plead.  
“Not before you tell me where Logan is!”, Austin demanded.  
Janus had no choice. He had to get authorities involved.  
“Virgil, call the police!”, he asked his brother, “And get a teacher!”  
Virgil nodded and ran down the hall.  
Janus, in the meantime, tried with force to get Austin to let go.  
However, he was clearly weaker than the grown up man.  
He didn’t give up though. He tried and tried...  
... until Austin had been tackled to the ground.  
“You piece of shit!”  
Turns out, the Kingsley twins finally arrived, and Remus took it upon himself to make Austin stop with his antics.  
“You-“, Austin tried getting up from the ground, but was instantly decked in the face by Remus.  
It didn’t knock him out, but it was enough pain to keep him down for a while. Austin held his jaw in pain, groaning.  
“How dare you-!”, Susan made a charge towards the twin.  
Remus quickly got up and swung his head towards Susan’s, giving her a head nut.  
The mother held her forehead, trying to ease the pain.  
“What the fuck did you do to Logan? Huh?”, Remus yelled at the parents, “Are you out of your god damn mind?!”  
“How we raise our child is none of your business.”, Susan barked at him.  
“It is my business!”, Remus countered, “Logan is my friend! And I won’t hesitate to fuck those up that fucked him up!”  
“Remus, calm down!”, Roman decided to step in. He held Remus, who had been angrily huffing, back by holding onto his shoulders.  
“Patton, are you okay?”, Janus decided to take care of the dark blond teen.  
“Y-yeah.”, Patton rubbed his shoulder, “It just hurts a little, but I’m good.”  
“What is going on?”, Mr. Sanders finally appeared, closely followed by Virgil.

Logan and Diane, alongside Diane’s lawyer, had been sitting at the police station for an hour now, trying to get the application through as fast as possible.  
According to the police man, who had been documenting everything, with Logan’s current condition and situation, the investigation might be done in four weeks max, leading to a trial rather quickly.  
Janus was right.  
Logan’s health and safety had been indicators, that helped speeding up the process. Not to mention the fact, that Diane happened to be in the same situation and already had an experienced lawyer with her.  
The office they had been sitting in had a bunch of small windows, that showed who walked down the hallways every once in a while.  
Logan sometimes caught the people in his peripheral, but didn’t pay too much attention.  
Until he saw a bunch of familiar heads pass by.  
“Uhm.”, he pointed towards the window, making Diane and everyone else check for themselves.  
“Ah, seems like we got two new arrests today.”, the policeman commented.  
“Those are my parents.”, Logan noted.  
Susan and Austin, both in handcuffs, were guided by a police officer.  
Behind them were Patton, the Kingsley twins and the Storm brothers, following the police man like little ducklings.  
“Oh!”, the policeman shot up from his seat and made his way to the door.  
“Louis!”, he called out to his colleague, “What’s going on?”  
“Hey Jack! Trespassing and harming a minor.”, Louis answered, “Why?”  
“I’m having a teen with me who’s filing a report against them. He claims that they’re his parents.”  
“Logan is here?”, Susan exclaimed, fake crying, “Gosh, I’m so glad!”  
“That sure didn’t look like it when your hubby almost broke a teen boy’s shoulder!”, Remus yelled from the back.  
“He did not!”, Susan lied.  
“There’s a bruise!”, Patton countered.  
When Logan heard that Austin’s had hurt Patton, something snapped in his head.  
“You did what?!”, ignoring the pain, he tried to dash out from the office, but was being held back by Jack.  
“What did you do to Patton?!”, he yelled aggressively, “Wasn’t beating me senseless enough for you yesterday?!”  
“Austin would never-“  
“Shut up!”, Logan interrupted his mother, “My whole back is covered in cuts and bruises!”  
“Give it up, Susan.”, Austin sighed, “Lying makes things worse than they already are.”  
“Okay, okay.”, Jack pushed Logan back into the office, “Officer Louis will take care of them, let’s continue your case.”  
He closed the door and guided Logan back to his seat.  
“I’d say karma finally hit your parents, huh?”, Diane smiled.  
“I don’t believe in karma.”, Logan countered, still a little ticked off, “But I assume you’re right.”  
“Logan, do you have a safe place you can stay at?”, Diane’s lawyer asked the teen boy.  
“I do.”, Logan nodded, “I’ve been living with Patton and his family for a little while already. My belongings are still at their place.”  
“Good.”, the lawyer acknowledged, “We’ll make sure that Mr. and Mrs. Croft won’t come near you until the trial.”

Logan and Diane sat in the waiting room, expecting their group of friends to be done with being questioned anytime soon.  
While waiting, the parents of each family came by one by one, the Hart parents being the last ones to arrive.  
“Logan, oh my gosh!”, Catherine made her way to her sons boyfriend, cupping his face with care, “Are you okay? What happened?”  
“I’m as good as I can be.”, Logan answered calmly, “Although, I would appreciate it, if we could visit a doctor after Patton is done with his questioning. My whole body hurts.”  
“Are you allowed to go?”, Mathew wondered, “Patton told us your parents picked you up yesterday.”  
“They were arrested, heh.”, Diane filled in with a chuckle.  
“What?”, Catherine dropped her hands from Logan’s face and took a step back, “Why?”  
Logan balled his fist angrily. Just the sheer thought of his parents hurting Patton made him go absolutely mad.  
“His dad hurt your son.”, Diane spoke for Logan.  
“Excuse me?!”, Mathew yelled in shock, “Austin did what to my child?! That’s gonna be another charge!”  
The father stomped off, leaving his wife with Logan.  
“That’ll probably take a while...”, Cat pointed out.  
“Hey, I can take you to the doctor if you want.”, Diane offered Logan, “I can bring you back home afterwards. Well, their home of course.”, she pointed at Catherine.  
“Please.”, Logan begged.  
“Here, take my keys, just in case we won’t be home yet.”, Catherine handed her keys over, “Mathew took his with him as well.”  
“Thank you.”

His wounds were worse than he thought. Remus did a great job at taking care of them, but some cuts needed a few stitches, and much to Logan’s dismay, one rib had indeed been broken.  
It wasn’t too bad though. The small break would heal by itself as long as Logan moved as little as possible.  
He took a written medical record with him, as proof against Austin.  
“Thank you for helping me.”, he said to Diane, once she drove up to the Hart’s driveway.  
“No problem.”, Diane turned off the engine and unbuckled, “It can only get better for you. But trust me, the next few weeks are definitely going to be stressful.”  
“I’ll prepare myself for that.”  
“Let’s get you inside. Those painkillers must be tiring.”  
The older teen helped the younger to get inside the house. She had snagged the keys prior, so she could get Logan inside as fast as possible.  
When she opened the door, she noticed how quiet the inside had been.  
“Seems like the others aren’t home yet.”, Diane concluded, “Where’s your room?”  
“Upstairs.”, Logan yawned.  
“You know what? Let me get you on the sofa instead, okay?”, Diane asked. Logan quietly nodded.  
As her and Logan got to the sofa, they spotted a fluffy ball in the middle.  
“Fluffball...”, Logan uttered.  
“Is that, like, a dog or sumn?”, Diane raised an eyebrow.  
“Yes.”, Logan confirmed.  
“Yo, get off.”, Diane poked the dog. The pet woke up instantly and barked around playfully.  
“Damn. You got a buncha energy, dont’cha?”, Diane pat the dog, “But you gotta get off the sofa now, squeaky one.”  
Fluffball made a quick jump off the couch, making room for Logan.  
The moment Logan’s head hit the pillow, he instantly fell asleep.

Small banter and the smell of food being cooked woke him up again.  
He let out a yawn and fixed his glasses, which he hadn’t had the energy to take off before falling asleep. He carefully pushed himself up, making sure not to worsen his physical condition. Eventually he managed to stand up, albeit his legs being a bit wobbly. That may have been the malnutrition. He hadn’t eaten in a while.  
Logan made his way to the kitchen, holding onto the door frame for support once he had made it.  
He saw Mathew and Catherine, joyfully cooking dinner.  
“Good afternoon.”, Logan greeted tiredly.  
Both parents turned their head simultaneously.  
“Logan, how are you sweetheart?”, Catherine wiped her hands with a towel and made her way towards the teen.  
“I... can’t really tell.”, Logan admitted.  
“How’s your back?”, Catherine wondered.  
“Not fine.”, Logan shook his head, “I had to get three wounds stitched up and one of my ribs is slightly broken.”  
“Gosh...”, the mother gasped.  
“How could a parent treat their child like that?”, Mathew uttered to himself.  
“You’re safe now.”, Catherine promised the teen, “We’ll make sure to keep you safe.”  
“Thank you so much.”, Logan smiled tiredly.  
“Is there anything you need to do for your back?”, the mother asked.  
“I need to clean the stitches once a day.”, Logan filled in, “Other than that, I have painkillers, just in case my rib gets worse. I was also told, that I should stay home for a week at least.”  
“We’ll take care of that then.”, Cat smiled at the exhausted boy, “Dinner will be ready in a bit, why don’t you take a seat again?”  
Logan didn’t have a big appetite.  
He didn’t know if it was because of the painkillers, or because of his mental state.  
However, he knew he needed to eat something. He needed that energy.  
He gave a nod and made his way back to the sofa.  
Fluffball, who had been napping in the dog bed, got up and quietly followed Logan. The only noise that came from the canine was the rustle from the collar.  
Once the tall teen took a seat, Fluffball jumped on the sofa as well. The dog instantly snuggled up to Logan.  
“Oh.”, Logan exclaimed, “Hey there.”  
For once, he had been unbothered by the family pet. He even gave Fluffball a few scratches behind the ear.  
While Logan was occupied with the dog, Mathew went to the staircase.  
“Pat, dinner’s almost ready!”, he yelled sweetly.  
“Coming!”, came from upstairs.  
If it weren’t for Logan being so exhausted, he’d show the excitement he felt when he heard Patton’s voice.  
He had been gone for one day, not even, a few hours, but he dearly missed not only the warmth, but also the all around uplifting aura Patton radiated with his being.  
Logan heard some fast footsteps from upstairs, which made their way down the stairs, and into the living room. The footsteps stopped for a second before coming closer to the black haired teen.  
A pair of arms carefully wrapped around Logan’s shoulders, a kiss was planted on his left temple.  
“I’m glad you’re back.”  
“I’m glad to be back too, Patton.”, Logan smiled.  
Patton planted another kiss on his boyfriends head. He then broke the hug and took a seat next to Logan. That’s when he noticed his pet as well.  
“Awww, look at you!”, Patton squealed at Fluffball.  
“Fluffball decided to keep me company, so it seems.”, Logan continued scratching the dogs ear.  
“Of course, hehe!”, Patton giggled, “My little furbaby knows when someone needs a good snuggle.”  
The blond teen gave the canine a few pats as well.  
“So... what’s gonna happen next?”, Patton looked up at Logan, “You know, with your parents and everything.”  
Logan sighed.  
“A lot of stress is going to happen.”, he replied.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janus is trying to make amends with Remus, which ends almost too well.
> 
> Trigger warnings: vauge references to past abuse

After they got home, Janus barricaded himself in his room. He had been quite exhausted as well, but for different reasons.  
The aggressive behavior of Logan’s parents, and the questioning at the police station reminded him of a time before he was known as a Storm family member.  
Memories kept flashing in his mind, making him feel mentally drained. He tried to push them out of his head, to no avail.  
Not only that, he felt replaced. By a certain band club member.  
He felt as if Diane just barged in and acted like the perfect friend.  
He hated how Diane and Remus shared the same humor, how her and Roman shared the same passion for Disney. Even if Janus didn’t like Roman. Aside from that, all the work Janus put into helping Logan went to waste, as Diane seemed to have been the better option to go with.  
Maybe it was his own fault for constantly pushing people away from him. He did that constantly, why was this time so different? So much worse?  
Had he been envious?  
Janus shook his head. He couldn’t allow himself to be envious.  
He wouldn’t.  
He absolutely wouldn’t.

_Hm._

He could send Remus a text though.  
He did want to apologize the day prior, and after that attempt failed, he was planning on trying again today, but that didn’t work out either.

SnakeDad: Remus?  
SnakeDad: I hope you haven’t blocked my number.  
SnakeDad: I know, this may seem out of nowhere, but I would like to talk to you.  
SnakeDad: About what had happened at the sleepover.  
SnakeDad: Feel free to reply whenever you wish to do so. I’m in no rush.

Lie.  
Janus was in a rush.  
He wanted to get rid of that nasty feeling as fast as possible.  
However, Remus took his sweet time to reply.

“What should I do?”  
There he was. Standing in the middle of Roman’s room, holding his phone cluelessly.  
Roman, who sat at his desk, studying the lines for the schools play, gave Remus a confused look.  
“Text him back?”, he shrugged at his brother, “Why are you asking me that? I don’t like that guy!”  
“Do you think he means it?”, Remus asked.  
“How should I know?”, Roman threw his hands in the air.  
“...”, Remus sunk his head, glancing at his phone, making sure the messages were really Janus’s.  
“Well, it does seem that you are glad he finally texted you again.”, Roman concluded.  
“Well, yeah.”, Remus scratched his neck, “Obviously.”  
“Then go ahead and reply, Duke Dummy.”  
“More like Duke Dummy Thicc.”  
“You know where the door is.”  
Remus stuck his tongue out at Roman before leaving.  
The messy twin decided to throw himself onto his bed after entering his room.  
He rolled onto his stomach, letting his knees rest in his pillow, legs bent upwards at a 90 degree angle.  
He grabbed his octopus plush he got from Patton and leaned the phone against it. Instead of texting Janus back, Remus would video call him.  
He pressed the camera symbol next to Janus’s name.

“A video chat?”, Janus wondered, staring at his screen confused.  
He took a seat at his desk, placing the phone in a little plastic phone holder.  
“At least he’s replying.”, Janus thought out loud while accepting the call.  
“Alrighty, you wanted to talk, let’s talk.”, Remus decided to cut right to the chase.  
“Hello to you too, Remus.”, Janus greeted the twin.  
“Yeah, let’s skip the formalities.”, Remus waved it off, “What’s up?”  
“I’ve been meaning to apologize.”, Janus explained, “I wanted to do that yesterday already, but the whole ordeal with Logan got in between.”  
“U-huh.”, Remus leaned his head on his hand.  
“My behavior was rather ill fitting.”, Janus continued, “It wasn’t my place to be mad, especially at the wrong person. Plus, Roman apologized to Virgil-“  
“Hold up!”, Remus waved hastily with his free hand, “My brother apologized?! Are we talking about the same Roman?!”  
“Yes.”, Janus raised an eyebrow, “We are. But we’re getting off topic.”  
“Look, I did something stupid by teasing Prince Mushy Guts, and that ended up making Virgil uncomfortable.”, Remus elaborated, “In return you ripped my entire heart out and smashed it with a sledgehammer. I’d say we’re even.”  
“...”, Janus’s eyes darted away from the phone for a moment, “I would also like to apologize for that.”  
“You what now?”, Remus squinted his eyes at the teen on the other line.  
“Virgil told me what happened in art class that day.”, Janus looked back at the screen of his phone, “I... didn’t think those bracelets were a big deal for you. I should have at least had the guts and handed you the Kandi myself. But instead I sent my brother to do that. We should have... just talked earlier.”  
“Hey, look, you’re not entirely at fault.”, Remus noted regretfully, “You even told me right before that whole shit show happened to not go too far.”  
“But you didn’t.”, Janus countered.  
“I didn’t?”, Remus questioned confused.  
“You didn’t.”, Janus shook his head, “Quite frankly, Roman was the one who took it too far. Yes, you teased him, but speaking from experience, brothers do that to each other.”  
“You know what, let’s just agree that all of us were in the wrong.”, Remus came to his own conclusion.  
“You’re not wrong.”, Janus agreed, “I would like to make it up to you though.”  
“Oh, you don’t have-“  
“How does a date sound?”  
Remus jaw dropped.  
Did he hear correctly?  
His heart started picking up its pace, his face flushed red within seconds.  
He blinked a few times.  
“Did you say date or am I going nuts?”, he asked, to make sure.  
“I did say that, yes.”; Janus reassured Remus.  
“Hah-“, Remus laughed nervously, trying to hold back the excitement bubbling up in his stomach, “Y-yeah, a date sounds great!”  
“Is there anything you’d be interested in doing?”, Janus wondered, “And don’t worry, I’ll pay for everything.”  
“Surprise me...?!”, was all Remus was able to contribute.  
“Very well.”; Janus nodded.  
“Y-yeah, neato, I gotta hang up now though, see you tomorrow or some shit, bye!”, Remus rambled before hanging up on Janus. He didn’t even give the other a chance to say good bye as well.  
Remus dropped his head into the mattress and let out an ecstatic scream, which was luckily muffled.  
“What the fuuuuuck?!”, he yelled, “I didn’t think it would end that well?!”  
He was mainly talking to himself. He needed to let his thoughts out somehow.

Janus sat there, baffled.  
“... Hold on.”, he thought out loud, “Did I...?”

_Did I ask Remus out on a date?_   
_Out of envy?!_

“... Shit.”, he uttered.  
He knew very well that envy wasn’t a good reason to invite someone on a date.  
However, Janus wasn’t so sure if it really had been envy, that made him go so far. He didn’t feel like he just won a non existing battle against Diane for the twins friendship.  
He felt surprisingly excited and nervous to go on a date with Remus.  
He started to second guess himself.

_Should I really pull through with it...?_

Janus shook his head.

_No, it’s fine._   
_I can go in that date._

Once again, he lied to himself.  
He didn’t know if he could go.  
He also couldn’t ask Virgil for help in this matter.  
Patton and Logan were out of the question too, considering the stress they’re currently in right now. Adding a friends dilemma wouldn’t be of great help.  
Desperate, he turned his head towards the terrarium. Medusa was out, exploring her surroundings.  
“What do I do?”, he asked the reptile.  
She flicked her tongue.  
“Hm.”, the teen hummed, “Well, that wasn’t of much help.”  
He got up, opened the terrarium and let Medusa slither on his hand again.  
“You tried though.”, he booped her snout, “I appreciate that a lot.”  
Medusa flicked her tongue again.  
“Oh, you’re totally not adorable.”, Janus joked. He decided to occupy himself with Medusa for a few more minutes before putting her back in her home.  
After checking twice if the terrarium was closed properly, he made his way to his bed. He took a seat, running his hand through his hair.  
“This is absurd.”, he exhaled.  
Janus had been successful in getting rid of the bad feeling of envy and guilt.  
However, they had been replaced with confusion and inner conflicts instead.  
For now, he had to push those feelings aside.  
At least he made the right step forward. Right?  
“... Oh, for crying out loud.”, he sighed, “I need to talk to someone.”  
Janus decided to pay is brother a visit. Virgil had been in the middle of feeding Sir Spiderton as a knock on his door appeared.  
“Who is it?”, Virgil asked while placing a cricket in front of the bird spider.  
“Definitely not your brother.”, came from the other side of the door.  
“Come in, Slenderman.”, Virgil allowed Janus to enter the room.  
Janus opened the door, staring down at his brother.  
Virgil stared back, confused.  
“What-“  
“I messed up.”, Janus interrupted Virgil.  
“How?”, Virgil closed his terrarium, letting the spider munch on its lunch in peace.  
“I asked Remus on a date.”, Janus admitted.  
Virgil’s jaw dropped.  
“What the fuck?”, he exclaimed, “Why would you do that?!”  
“I don’t know!”, Janus yelled confused.  
“Okay, okay.”, Virgil shook his head and his hands, “Come in, close the door.”  
Janus did what he was told. After the lock clicked in the doorframe, Virgil got up from his chair and made his way to his bed. He took a seat and offered his brother one by patting the space next to him. Janus complied.  
“Okay.”, Virgil exhaled, “What gave you the idea to do that?”  
“...”, Janus grip tightened on his pants, and then muttered something Virgil didn’t understand.  
“What?”, Virgil raised an eyebrow.  
“Envy.”, Janus repeated himself more clear.  
“Envy?”, Virgil repeated in shock, “You’re the least envious person I know!”  
“I-“, Janus ran his hand through his hair, scratching his scalp, “I don’t- I-... I felt replaced, okay?”  
He wasn’t able to make up a lie this time around.  
“By Diane?”, Virgil asked carefully.  
“How did you figure that out now?”, Janus wondered slightly ticked off.  
“Every now and again I walked across the stage, and I saw you being pretty bummed out.”, the purple haired boy explained, “And, well, you not noticing me is also a warning sign.”  
“It was noticeable?”, Janus sounded disappointed. He prided himself with being able to disguise his emotions perfectly.  
“To me it was.”, Virgil shrugged, “I’ve known you long enough to know when something’s off with you. But why a date?”  
“I really don’t know.”, Janus shook his head slowly, “That was the first thing that crossed my mind... somehow.”  
“You could have just apologized and make amends!”, Virgil told his brother loudly.  
“I-“, Janus pinched his nose bridge, “I know. Now.”  
“.... Tell me.”, Virgil placed a hand on Janus’s shoulder, “Do you have a crush on Remus?”  
Janus’s face instantly turned a crimson red.  
“No!”, he denied, “What-?!”  
“You do.”, Virgil concluded, “Look at how red you are.”  
“I’m-“, Janus got up from his seat, “I do not have a crush on Remus!”  
“Sure, Jan.”, Virgil chuckled.  
“I’m red because I’m appalled by your assumption!”, Janus kept trying to defend himself.  
“Mhm, of course.”, Virgil smirked.  
“You’re spouting utter nonsense!”, Janus crossed his arms, turning his back towards Virgil.  
“Hey, he clearly has a thing for you too.”, Virgil added.  
“... He does.”, Janus filled in, “He confessed to me.”  
“You can’t be serious.”, Virgil didn’t expect that statement. He knew Remus thought that Janus was good looking. But he never expected for those feelings to go any deeper than superficial.  
“It was more or less by accident.”, Janus loosened his arms, sighing, “He tried cheering me up and somehow it slipped out that he liked me. And I know, for a fact, that he doesn’t view me the same way my ex did, obviously.”, Janus turned around again, “Remus actually has respect for my identity, he just has this... extreme way of showing it.”  
“Okay, you know my stance on him.”, Virgil said, “But... if you want to date him, and that makes you happy or whatever, who am I to stop you?”  
“A-again, I do not have a crush on him!”, Janus stuttered embarrassed, while trying to stay composed.  
“I’m gonna pretend, that you’re saying the truth for now.”, Virgil grinned.  
“I hate you.”, Janus spat.  
“No, you don’t.”, the smaller boy teased. Janus, in return, inaudibly grumbled. He let his embarrassment subside for now though.  
“Do you have an idea, to what I could invite Remus on?”, he then asked.  
“Doesn’t he have an octopus as a pet?”, Virgil wondered, “Maybe take him to the aquarium.”  
Janus took a moment to think about that suggestion. He then nodded.  
“That sounds fantastic.”, he complimented.  
“Glad I could help.”, Virgil smiled.

It was weird to go to school without Logan.  
While Patton had been too sick to go to school plenty of times, Logan always made an effort to appear, even if he had been riddled with a cold or something similar.  
Whether is was his determination to keep the perfect grades, or his parents not allowing him to stay home, was unclear.  
And because of Logan’s absence, Patton would make sure to write the prettiest and  
cleanest notes he’s ever written; at least for the glasses him and Logan shared; so that the grade A student could copy them later on.  
It saddened Patton a little, but he knew it was best for his partner to get good rest and not overwork his body while his rib was in the process of healing.  
And also, Patton wouldn’t be etirely alone. He had Roman and Remus.  
Speaking of, the twins finally made their appearance.  
“Good morning, padre!”, Roman greeted with a grin.  
“Padre?”, Patton tilted his head, “What does that mean?”  
“It’s Spanish for dad.”, Roman explained, “Remember how I said you’re the group dad?”  
“You did say that, yeah.”, Patton chuckled.  
“How’s Logan doing?”, Roman wondered.  
“The doctor told him to stay home for at least this week.”, Patton filled in, “He has a broken rib and a few stitches that need to heal.”  
“By the several severed heads of the hydra, what?!”, Roman exclaimed in shock.  
“If it weren’t bad for Logan’s case, I’d beat the shit outta his dad.”, Remus chimed in.  
“You already decked him pretty well yesterday.”, Roman reminded his twin.  
“Not well enough.”, Remus huffed, “He was still conscious. But also, how’s that shoulder of yours doing?”  
“Good.”, Patton gave his shoulder a light rub, “It’s bruised, but nothing too bad.”  
He then sighed.  
“I just feel bad for Logan. I’ve known him and his parents almost my entire life.” he told the twins, “And I knew his parents were... something, but I never paid enough attention to Susan and Austin being that terrible. Should I have realized that sooner? Maybe it could have helped Logan avoid yesterday’s situation.”  
“Don’t give yourself the fault.”, Roman tried cheering Patton up, “It was his parents that were this close minded, this ignorant and this willing to harm someone.”  
“But maybe I could have protected Logan better!”, Patton exclaimed with a disappointed undertone, “Isn’t that my job as his boyfriend?”  
“But you couldn’t have done anything about that.”, Remus threw in, “It’s a shitty situation, but you’re protecting Logan right now, by letting him stay at your place.”  
“We... can’t protect the people we love all the time.”, Roman rubbed his upper arm, “Sometimes, bad things happen to them. And we have to make sure, that they’ll feel better once the bad situation is over.”  
“If that’s possible.”, Remus added, somewhat beat down.  
Patton looked between the brothers.  
“Thanks, kiddos.”, he warmly smiled at them, “But hey, now that it’s only us three, we can plan that birthday party without Logan finding out!”  
That suggestion instantly lifted the brothers moods again.  
“I even have some presents I’d like to get him!”, Patton quickly got his phone from his pocked and opened a shopping app.  
“Here!”, he presented the wishlist he adorably named “Cute gifts for Lo <3”.  
“Oh, let’s see, let’s see!”, Roman snatched the phone from Patton’s hand and checked the list from up close. Remus pressed his face against his brothers shoulder, to get a better view of the phone as well.  
“A star plushie?”, Roman wondered.  
“It’s a star pillow with his Zodiac sign stitched on! As the constellation!”, Patton explained happily, “I thought of a plushie at first, but that’s more my thing, heh. But you can snuggle a pillow just the same.”  
“What’s the apron for?”, Remus pointed at the phone, “Are you hoping to see him wear that and nothing else or...?”  
Patton’s face turned beet red.  
“N-no!”, he exclaimed embarrassed, “When we made cupcakes, he complained about how dirty his clothes got. So I told him I’d get him an apron. It’s also space themed!”  
“Is there a chance everything on this list is space themed?”, Roman concluded.  
Patton shrunk a little, pulling his shoulders up.  
“Maybeeee.”, he admitted. “It’s only four items though.”  
The next thing was a new smartphone. Not a very expensive one, but still one of good quality.  
“Doesn’t he already have a phone?”, Roman questioned.  
“Susan took it away from him.”, Patton explained, “But to be honest, I feel like a new phone gives him the feeling of a fresh start as well. I also picked out the phone case already, it’s-“  
“Space themed.”, the twins sung in unison, interrupting Patton.  
“Yeah, hehe.”, Patton scratched the back of his head, “I just can’t pick between what to get. I honestly wanna buy all four things, but I think that would be too much.”  
“Hey, considering Logan already has close to nothing, a bit of spoiling wouldn’t hurt.”, Roman pointed out.  
“True...”, Patton contemplated for a second, “Alright, I’ll get the entire list then!”  
“By the way, what do you want for your birthday?”, Roman asked.  
“Oh, I have a wishlist for that as well-“  
Before Patton could finish his sentence, Roman took the step and swiped to Patton’s other wishlists.  
That when him and Remus spotted something Patton didn’t want them to see.  
“Which list do you mean?”, Roman turned the phone, for Patton to take a look for himself.  
That’s when all the color in Patton’s face disappeared.  
One list had the skirt Patton desperately wanted as the thumbnail.  
“Uhm...”, he bit his lip, but then pressed on the correct wishlist.

_Maybe they didn’t notice._

“Hm...”, Roman checked the items, “This is very you, yeah.”, he commented.  
Remus’s eyes darted between the phone and Patton.  
“Yeah, I gotta ask, what’s with the skirt list?”, he asked straight away.

_Dang it._

Patton avoided eye contact.  
“I-“, he uttered, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.  
“Hey, it’s chill, you can tell us.”, Remus comforted the smaller teen.  
Patton checked his surroundings, and took a deep breath.  
“I’d really love to wear skirts.”, he admitted shyly, and still scared, “But a boy in skirts would be... weird. And I’m already pretty weird. I don’t wanna get bullied either.”, he then looked up at Remus, “But when I saw you wearing a skirt to school I actually got a bit of confidence to do that as well! But... it’s not enough really...”  
“I mean, it’s just a piece of clothing, what’s the big deal?”, Remus shrugged.  
“Is that where you get your confidence from?”, Patton wondered.  
“Nah.” Remus denied, “Well, actually, maybe, I dunno. I just don’t care, obviously.”  
“That’s really admirable...”, Patton gave a weak smile, “I wish I could be the same.”  
“Hey, how about this. I get you the skirt as an early birthday gift and then the two of us wear them for a day. How does that sound?”, Remus suggested.  
“You would do that for me?”, Patton’s eyes lit up with hope.  
“Of course!”, Remus grinned widely, “Here.”, he yanked the phone out of his brothers hand and sent himself the link to the lists.  
“I’ll even get fast shipping on this bitch.”, Remus promised.  
“Thank you so much!”, Patton gave the taller teen a hug.  
“You’re awfully nice today, Dukey.”, Roman pointed out.  
“I’m having a good time.”, Remus shrugged, still trapped in the arms of Patton.  
“Does this have something to do with what made you so giddy and bouncy yesterday?”, Roman wondered.  
“Maybe.”, Remus smiled mischievously.  
“Oh, come on, tell me!”, Roman whined.  
“Yeah, fat chance, Princey.”, Remus rolled his eyes, “You’ll find out soon enough. Until then, I’d love to enjoy my peace.”  
“I don’t even know what you mean by that!”  
“Exactly, that’s the point, you dingus.”  
Roman groaned.  
“You’re insufferable sometimes.”, he exhaled.  
“Thanks, I’m making an effort.”, Remus stuck his tongue out.  
During their fun banter, the Storm brothers finally entered the school building.  
“There they are, at Patton’s locker.”, Virgil pointed at the group.  
“As always.”, Janus nodded.  
He nervously adjusted the collar of his turtleneck, “Y-you go ahead.”  
“Haha, sure.”, Virgil chuckled as he walked away.  
“Totally not a crush.”, he uttered to himself.  
Janus took a deep breath and made his way to Remus. He tapped the twins shoulder to get his attention.  
Remus turned his head around, grinning instantly the moment he laid eyes on the taller teen.  
“Heya Dee!”, he cheered loudly.  
“Good morning, Remus.”, Janus tried his best to hide his nervousness, “I... have come up with an idea for our date.”  
Roman gasped. Patton let go of Remus and squealed.  
“Oh?”, Remus exclaimed, fully turning around.  
“How does the aquarium sound?”, Janus suggested, “This weekend, if nothing gets in between.”  
“I haven’t been to the aquarium in ages!”, Remus cheered, “Fuck yeah, I’m in!”  
“Very well.”, Janus nodded, “See you in class then.”  
He waved as he left the group again. Once he made it around the corner, he clutched his chest, his breathing picking up pace.  
“Jesus Christ...”, he muttered.  
“Did this just happen?!”, Roman yelled a little too excited, “I thought-“  
“Don’t ruin it, Ro!”, Patton quickly hushed him.  
“Well, my peace was short lived.”, Remus exhaled, “Come on. I’m ready.”  
“For wha- OH, THE REVENGE!”, Roman remembered, “Finally! My day has come!”  
“Well, I’m just excited that you and Janus get along again!”, Patton clapped.  
“Ditto, my squishy little friend.”, Remus smiled.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan is being paid a visit.  
> Remus and Janus (with his totally-not-crush on Remus) are on their date.
> 
> Trigger warnings: Talk about dysphoria (voice in particular), mentions of death

Turns out, being alone at home was quite strange after being used to constant company.  
Logan found himself getting bored. He got more sleep then usual, yes, but the pain his broken rib caused him woke him up. He took a pain killer and went on to freestyle studying.  
Patton’s parents were at work, so the house was quiet. Mathew took Fluffball with him; he was allowed to bring dogs to his work, his colleagues enjoyed Fluffballs presence; so the house had been extra quiet.  
He couldn’t bear the silence, so he put on a podcast playlist, mainly for background noise.  
Eventually, the doorbell rang. Logan, carefully, got up from his seat and made his way downstairs. He took a little longer to reach the front door, but eventually, he made it. Whoever was at the door seemed to either have left or had been very patient.  
Logan checked through the little door spy to see who had been in front of the door.  
Two unfamiliar faces.

_Great._

Logan checked if the door chain was locked in; it was; before opening the door as far as the chain had allowed.  
“Good afternoon.”, he greeted carefully, “How can I help you?”  
“Hello, my name is Kate, I’m from the Child Protective Services.”  
Logan wanted to close the door right then and there. Panic rose in his chest, making his hand shiver noticeably.  
“Don’t worry, I’m not here to take you to a new family or anything.”, Kate shook her head, “We’re here to evaluate you for your emancipation.”  
Kate took a step aside, revealing another woman.  
“This is Dr. Floyd, she will check on you with me.”  
For now, Logan had no other option but to let the two women in. He closed the door to unlock the chain and opened it back up.  
“Thank you.”, Kate smiled as she walked in, followed by Dr. Floyd, “I guess my assumption about you being Logan was corrent then, right?”  
“Yes.”, Logan closed the door behind him, “You can take a seat on the sofa, if you want.”  
“Actually, I’d like to see your room first, if that’s okay.”, Kate countered, “I’d like to know how your currently living situation is.”  
“Oh, I do need to inform you that-“  
“You don’t live with Mr. and Mrs. Croft anymore, I’ve been told.”, Kate nodded, “I’d still like to see how you’ve been living.”  
What Logan didn’t know, is that Kate had visited his old home prior. And what she saw was right out horrible. The room Austin and Susan had provided their son wasn’t much bigger than a broom closet.  
“Very well.”, Logan complied, a little nervous, “It’s upstairs, please follow me.”  
The teen led the way to his room.  
He left the door open, so the two women immediately saw the inside.  
“It used to be a guest room, which Mathew and Catherine were gracious enough to sacrifice for me.”, Logan explained, “I haven’t done much decorating, considering I never found the time to do so.”  
“Did your parents ever provide you with things you can occupy yourself with?”, Kate wondered, “You don’t seem to have many things that may entertain you.”  
“They didn’t.”, Logan denied, “Most of the belongings I have I had to save my little allowance for, while still having to buy my own food.”  
“They made you buy your own food?”, Kate questioned in slight shock.  
Logan nodded quietly.  
“What do you have then?”, Kate looked around, trying to find anything, really.  
“I own four books, two of which are about astronomy, one of which is a mystery crime novel and one is a sci-fi novel.”, Logan pointed at the four books on top of the desk, “Aside from that, I have a laptop, which I was only gifted by my parents for studies, and nothing more.”  
“That’s it?”, Kate raised an eyebrow.  
“Yes.”, Logan confirmed once more, “However, I have been occupying myself quite well.”, Logan added, “I’ve been socializing a lot, making a good handful of friends, and on top of that, I’m in a relationship with the son of the family, that was generous enough to let me live with them.”  
“Aw, those are some good news.”, Kate cheered.  
Dr. Floyd even cracked a smile while taking notes.  
“How is the Hart family been treating you exactly?”, Kate dug deeper into Logan’s life.  
“Considering they’ve known me for basically my whole life, they embraced me with warm hugs and kindness all around.”, Logan fixed his glasses, “They’ve been making sure that I eat and take care of myself properly, and they were also the reason why I’ve gotten help for my... mental health issues in the first place.”  
“Do you have any medical records?”, Dr. Floyd spoke up.  
“I do, yes.”, Logan made his way to his desk, aiming for the top drawer. He pulled out a folder, which contained all of the important paperwork he had gotten over the past weeks. Including medical records.  
He placed he folder on top of the desk and skimmed through the papers on the inside.  
“Here.”, he found what he had been looking for. Logan handed the open folder to the doctor. She took it, thanking with a nod.  
“Well, this truly is a great improvement though.”, Kate commented, “Do you have any way to get money? Are your parents still giving you the allowance?”  
“No.”, Logan denied, “However, I had my first babysitting job not too long ago, and the parents of the child I had been watching paid me more than enough.”  
“So I assume you’re going to continue babysitting then.”, Kate said.  
“Yes.”, the teen confirmed.  
“From what I’m gathering from the record-“, Dr Floyd spoke up once again, “-your parents are definitely going to pay you alimony until you’re 21. If you get emancipated that is.”  
She shook her head.  
“They fully failed their task as your parental guardians.”, she added.  
“We will take a few more notes and be on our merry way then.”, Kate smiled, “We’ll probably stop by again when the Hart family is present as well. I assume they’re at work and in school right now.”  
Logan nodded for confirmation.

Before the two adults left, they handed Logan a letter, which he was supposed to give to Mathew and Catherine.  
The teen decided to give it to whoever arrived first home, which had been Mathew.  
The father knocked at the door of Logan’s room.  
“Come in.”, Logan, who had been sitting at his desk again, permitted.  
“Hey, kiddo, how are you doing?”, Mathew asked with a smile as he peeked in.  
“I’m doing well.”, Logan said, “I’ve been paid a visit earlier today.”  
“Hopefully not from Susan and Austin.”, Mathew opened the door entirely, accidentally letting Fluffball in.  
Logan, for once, didn’t mind the dog. He’d usually dislike it when the canine was in his room, but over time Logan seemed to have opened up to the family pet.  
“No.”, Logan grabbed the envelope he’d been given and held it up, “It was CPS.”  
“What?”, Mathew took a few steps closer, grabbing the letter and opening it immediately.  
“They were evaluating me, if I’m suitable for emancipation.”, Logan briefly filled the father in, “They’re going to visit again soon.”  
“I see...”, Mathew read through the letter, “Well, this basically says what you just told me.”  
“I told them your and Catherine’s work times, so they most likely will stop by sometime late afternoon.”, Logan elaborated.  
“Got it.”, Mathew nodded, folding the letter again, “So, are we feeling well enough to cook?”, he grinned at Logan.  
“What?”, Logan raised an eyebrow confused.  
“I wanna teach you how to cook, if that’s fine by you.”, Mathew explained, “We can make dinner together if you’re not in too much pain.”  
“Oh.”, Logan exclaimed quietly, “I think I’m fine. I can do a little work.”  
“Perfect, let’s get going then!”, Mathew waved Logan over, “We won’t make anything too complicated, don’t worry.”

“How about we practice the first song today?”, Diane suggested.  
Theater class.  
The actors for the main characters were united with the actress for the character of Wrath again.  
Janus felt a sense of triumph, the feeling that had been missing prior. Mainly because Remus instantly flaunted with the fact that the two of them had a date.  
Diane seemed confused at first, but was excited for Remus nonetheless.  
“Isn’t the first song performed by the two of us?”, Janus pointed out.  
“Yup.”, Diane nodded, emphasizing the p, “You can sing, right?”  
“Well-“, he could. Janus was very well trained with his vocals.  
However his singing voice was rather... feminine.  
While he had been able to push his speaking voice down to a deeper tone without the help of testosterone, his singing voice still lacked masculinity. At least from Janus’s point of view.  
He completely missed the fact that a musical meant he had to sing as well.  
Suddenly his triumphant feeling was replaced by utter anxiety and dysphoria.  
“I... can sing.”, he then admitted. It wasn’t a lie, but for the love of God, he wish it was one.  
“Neat.”, Diane gave a thumbs up, “Let’s get started with warm ups then.”  
Janus choked.  
“M-my throat hurts.”, he lied.  
“From what?”, Diane questioned confused, “You seem too healthy to have a cold.”  
“I strained my voice.”, Janus excused himself.  
“That’s not a good way to talk yourself out of practice.”, Diane crossed her arms.  
“Let’s just recite the lines again instead.”, Janus suggested, “The songs have time.”  
“So do the lines.”, Diane countered, “What’s your deal?”  
“I just don’t want to sing right now!”, Janus got louder, “Get that through your thick skull!”  
“Sorry...”, Diane took a step back while apologizing somewhat quietly.  
Janus took a deep breath while running his hand through his hair.  
“I’m just going to recite the lines by myself.”, he turned on his heel and made his way back to the seat, where he had placed his backpack prior.  
Remus glanced between Diane and Janus.  
“Yeah, I’ll just-“, he slowly walked backwards, away from Roman and Diane.  
They got the message and gave the twin a nod, telling him he could leave.  
Remus made a dash for the free seat next to Janus.  
“Hey.”, he greeted the blond boy softly.  
Janus didn’t answer to that.  
“Hey, if D.W. said something, I could-“  
“No, don’t.”, Janus stopped Remus from finishing his sentence, “I appreciate it but... just don’t.”  
“‘Kay then.”, Remus leaned back in his seat, “You wanna talk about it though?”  
Janus bit the inside of his cheek.  
“I am not particularly fond of my singing voice.”, Janus explained, “It gives me... dysphoria.”  
“Ooooh.”, Remus nodded understandingly.  
“I’ve trained my speaking voice well.”, Janus elaborated further, “Although I do hope it’ll become lower once I start testosterone. But I haven’t trained my singing voice at all.”  
Janus leaned his head on his hands, placing the elbows on his knees.  
“I completely ignored the fact that I had to sing in this musical.”, he admitted, “I don’t want to ask, if I could get a different role thought either. This is the first time I landed a main role in a play.”  
“Maybe you could train your voice until the play or something?”, Remus suggested, “Or ask if someone could sing for you. I dunno...”  
“I will figure something out.”, Janus said, not fully knowing if he will, actually.  
“Let’s recite the lines, ‘kay?”, Remus smiled.  
“What about Roman and Diane?”, Janus raised his head, looking at the other boy.  
“They can recite with each other.”, Remus waved it off.  
“... You don’t want to practice with them?”, Janus wondered.  
“It’s not like I don’t live in the same house as Prince Glitterbomb.”, Remus pointed at his brother, “I can practice with him whenever I want.”  
“And... Diane?”, Janus asked shyly.  
“I’ll see her more than enough.”, the twin shrugged.  
“Ah.”, Janus nodded slowly.  
“You don’t seem to like her that much, huh?”, Remus saw right through his friend.  
“What makes you think that?”, Janus avoided answering the question.  
“I dunno, you just give off the vibe.”, Remus explained.  
“I do?”  
“Yup.”  
Janus contemplated whether or not he should tell Remus the truth.  
He decided to leave it be for now.

Logan and Mathew ended up making simple steaks with freshly made salad as a side dish.  
After chopping up the various vegetables, Logan felt the need to take a seat though. His rib hurt him too much from all the movement. Mathew was okay with that, of course.  
However, Logan still wanted to learn, so he took a chair from the small dinner table and watched Mathew carefully cooking the meat.  
“How long do you cook the onions for before throwing in the steaks?”, Logan asked.  
“Not for that long.”, Mathew stirred in the pan, “One to two minutes at max.”  
“And how are the measurements for the seasonings?”  
“However your heart desires. They’re supposed to taste you after all.”, the father threw the first piece of meat in the pan, “I usually don’t season the onions though. They’re usually tasty by themselves. Plus it would be too much with the pre-seasoned steaks.”  
“Interesting...”, Logan nodded, “Cooking doesn’t seem as hard as I initially thought.”  
Logan had some cooking experience. Not a lot, as he made the same instant meals over and over again, but it was a start.  
“Depends on the dish, really.”, Mathew shrugged while placing one meat after another in the pan, “But usually the most simplest things are the most delicious. At least in my opinion.”  
Mathew hummed a little tune while watching the cooking food.  
Eventually, the lock in the front door clicked.  
“Ah, right on time!”, Mathew cheered.  
“We’re home!”, a woman sung loudly.  
Catherine and Patton finally made it home from work and high school.  
“Are we having steak for dinner?”, Patton asked, drawing the conclusion from the smell.  
“Yep!”, Mathew loudly answered from the kitchen.  
After dropping off his back at the bottom of the staircase, and giving Fluffball a quick pat, Patton made his was to the kitchen.  
“Ah, Logan!”, he hurried over to his boyfriend, giving him a light hug around his shoulders. If it weren’t for Logan’s injuries, the hug would be much tighter.  
Logan leaned his head against Patton’s shoulder, smiling.  
“Seems like someone couldn’t wait for dinner, huh?”, Catherine, who just entered the kitchen as well, looked at Logan with an amused expression.  
“Actually, he helped me with dinner.”, Mathew corrected.  
“I couldn’t help entirely, sadly.”, Logan added, “As my body started to ache again.”  
“You helped plenty.”, Mathew complimented Logan.  
“See, dad?”, Patton let go of his partner, “You finally found someone you can teach your cooking skills to!”  
“I’m still not giving up trying to teach you as well PatPat.”, the father chuckled.  
“Noooo!”, Patton whined jokingly, “Never!”  
“How about you and Logan set the table outside?”, Mathew then suggested, “Today’s a nice and warm afternoon after all.”  
“Are you good to go, Lo?”, Patton asked.  
“I should be fine.”, Logan slowly got up from his seat, with Patton’s help.  
“I’ll take the plates, you grab the silverware.”, Patton suggested.  
The taller teen nodded.  
Once the pair disappeared outside, Mathew put his attention to his wife.  
“CPS came by earlier while we were gone.”, he filled her in, “They checked on Logan.”  
“Oh gosh.”, Catherine exclaimed quietly, “What did they say?”  
“Well, Logan briefly told me what happened, they stayed rather neutral, not confirming or denying anything yet so far.”  
“These next few weeks sure are gonna be something, huh?”, Cat sighed, “Well, I’m ready. Logan deserves better than his parents.”

Saturday rolled around.  
Janus looked at himself in the bathroom mirror.  
Despite him still being on the tracks of “totally not a crush on Remus”, he still decided to dress up a little.  
A black button up with gold buttons, neatly tucked in, the collar holding a yellow bow tie. He combined that with mustard yellow pants and a black belt.  
Maybe too extra for an aquarium, but he felt good in that outfit. He needed that positive energy.  
Janus checked his outfit one last time before leaving the bathroom.  
He felt surprisingly nervous, despite him knowing that there wasn’t any reason to feel that way.  
He was just going to hang out with Remus. Nothing else. Nothing to be nervous about.  
Janus went to his room and retrieved his shoulder bag he had prepared for the day. It contained things like his wallet, phone, keys and whatnot.  
He also had a small gift for Remus. Janus made an effort to get some beads and thread to make Kandi. He tried to make it look like a tentacle wrapping around the arm, but it turned more into a purple-black-green something.  
But it’s the thought that counted.  
Right?  
He threw the strap of the bag over his head and on his right shoulder, and made his way to the front door, where he put his shoes on.  
“I’m off to the aquarium!”, he stated loudly to inform his family.  
“Have fun, Janus!”, Erika, who had been sitting on the sofa, waved.  
“Don’t come home too late, okay?”, came from Casper, who had been in the kitchen to make himself some coffee.  
“I won’t!”, Janus yelled before leaving the apartment and closing the door behind him.  
Lucky for him, he had a bus stop right in front of the complex. Janus had timed everything in a way, that didn’t force him to wait for the public transport for too long. Only a minute after the teen left his home, the bus had arrived.  
He got a ticket from the bus driver and took a seat somewhere in the middle. Depending on the traffic, he’d arrive at the aquarium in around twenty minutes. Until then, he decided to mindlessly stare out of the window. Usually, time passed by much faster whenever he did that.  
The teen boys mind wouldn’t stay unbothered for too long though. A bunch of thoughts stated to emerge, forcing Janus to contemplate and have a discussion with himself in his head.  
Suddenly, every worst case scenario appeared in Janus’s mind as if it had been a compilation. But what was he worried about exactly?

_This is just a get together. What is the meaning of this?_

He sighed.  
Of course, he wanted everything to go well with Remus, but he always thought that that was a natural given.  
There was nothing to be worried about.  
And yet, his mind figuratively traveled through time and space, not knowing when and where to stop.  
Unlike the bus, which had just arrived at Janus’s destination.  
Seems like overthinking had the same effect as mindless staring.  
He quickly snapped out of his trance when he saw the huge sign of the aquarium. Janus quickly jumped up from his seat and made his way out of the bus.  
Dusting himself off, he checked his surroundings. That’s when he spotted a familiar figure from afar, waiting near the entrance.  
“There he is.”, he told himself.  
The teen took a deep breath and started walking.  
Remus eventually noticed Janus walking towards him. He turned his music off, letting the headphones dangle around his neck. He gave Janus a wide smile once the latter was only a few steps away.  
“I hope you haven’t been waiting for too long.”, Janus wondered.  
“Nah.”, Remus waved it off, “I waited for like one song.”  
Remus was surprisingly dressed down. He still rocked his usual color scheme and make up, but he looked more well kept.  
His hair had been slightly gelled, the green gingham button up he wore a lot had been, well, buttoned up until the middle, revealing what seemed to be a basic purple shirt underneath. The button up had even been tucked in, but considering how big it was on Remus’s body, it was still hanging a lot, hiding the belt. His pants, despite being ripped at the knees, were just a basic black with some studs here and there.  
It was weird for Janus to see the other without his trademark platform boots. Remus had decided a basic pair of black and white sneakers were enough for the day. The shoelaces were green and purple though.  
“You’re surprisingly less flashy than usual.”, Janus pointed out.  
“Yeah.”, Remus scratched his neck, “I though for once I don’t have to look like a slutty mess, hehe.”, he blushed a little, “Roman may have helped me.”  
“That explains the gel in your hair.”, Janus pointed at Remus’s head, “It suits you quite well though.”  
“Ew.”, Remus stuck his tongue out in disgust, clearly joking, “You won’t see me wearing gel that often then, heh. But what’s up with your ‘fit, lookin’ all dapper ‘n’ shit. I like it!”  
“Why, thank you.”, Janus bowed a little.  
“No prob, Bob.”, Remus pointed a finger gun at Janus, “Let’s head inside already!”  
He seemed very excited.  
Probably because he had mentioned before that he hadn’t been to the aquarium in years.  
Janus, as promised, paid for the tickets, making it possible for the teens to head inside.  
They barely talked as they wandered through the different halls and rooms, mainly because Remus had been so enticed by the scenery that he kept staring and the various aquatic animals, mouth lightly agape.  
Janus liked hat sight a lot. He couldn’t stop staring himself. However, in his case, he hadn’t been staring at the fish and other critters.  
Eventually, the two friends made it to the tank, that had the octopi in it. Remus took a step closer to the glass, almost pressing his nose against it. He carefully placed his hands on the tank, watching the octopi swim by.  
Janus let him be for a few minutes. Until he noticed small sniffles coming from the twin.  
“Remus?”, Janus took a step closer, “Hey...”  
“Hm?”, Remus turned his head, revealing his red and slightly puffy eyes to Janus.  
“What’s wrong?”, the blond teen asked carefully.  
“It’s...”, Remus turned his head back around again, “I don’t wanna bring the mood down.”  
“Remus, you’re on the brink of crying.”, Janus pointed out, “Are you okay?”  
“... Can we talk about this later?”, Remus sunk his head a little, “I wanna enjoy this as much as I can.”  
“Of course.”, Janus agreed.  
They spent another two hours in the aquatic museum until hunger hit.  
“There’s is a burger restaurant nearby.”, Janus suggested as him and Remus left the building, “It’s an actual restaurant, where the burgers are freshly made from scratch.”, Janus elaborated further, “Much healthier than fast food chains.”  
“That sounds fucking delicious.”, Remus grinned, “I’m down.”  
“Good.”  
It took the pair a few minutes to reach the restaurant. Luckily, they were able to immediately be seated. They ordered right away, now waiting for their food to arrive.  
Drinks were already served. Both of the teens decided on water.  
“We could do this more often.”, Remus took a sip from his drink, “This was fun.”  
“You mean dates?”, Janus asked, to be sure.  
“I meant hanging out in general, but I wouldn’t mind more dates, heh.”, the twin chuckled.  
“Of course you wouldn’t.”, Janus smiled a little, “But I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”  
“Yeah! I even got sentimental.”, Remus shared, the sighed, “I just... got reminded about the last time I went to the aquarium with my family.”  
“I assume that was before your fathers passing.”, Janus pointed out with a soft tone.  
“Yeah.”, Remus chewed on his bottom lip a little, avoiding eye contact with Janus, “We never went to the aquarium again after he died.”  
Remus then shook his head.  
“I shouldn’t be talking about my dad so much.”, he uttered.  
“It’s okay.”, Janus reassured him comfortingly, “He was an important part of your life after all.”  
“He was.”, Remus breathed, “But I need to stop over sharing in general.”, he shrugged, “I just can’t help it.”  
“I’m not bothered.”, Janus told his schoolmate.  
“But I feel like I’m never giving you the chance to talk about yourself.”, Remus then dropped on Janus.  
The latter tried to keep his expression blank.  
“I’m not too fond of sharing things about myself.”, Janus admitted, “Especially about my past.”  
“Repression can get real bad, you know?”, Remus warned, “That made me and Logan end up in the mental hospital. Not, that you need to spill your entire life in front of me if you don’t want to, but I’m just saying. If I can trust you, you can trust me as well.”  
“Thanks for letting me know.”, Janus nodded, “But I’m okay.”  
Lie.  
“A’ight.”, Remus let the topic rest, “Hey, how long do you think our food is going to take, I’m starving.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How will Remus's and Janus's date end? Good? Bad? Find out in this chapter!  
> Roman and Virgil still don't see eye to eye, and Roman wants to fix that.
> 
> Trigger warnings: mentions of deadname (in flashback), depiction of abuse (in flashback)

Patton stood in his room, twirling in his new article of clothing.  
He felt really nice.  
Remus did what he had promised and got him the cat themed skirt with the suspenders. He even gave the tinier teen some styling tips on how to make the skirt work.  
No one else, aside from Roman, knew about this.  
Remus promised Patton that he’d be wearing a skirt to school on Monday, so if Patton wanted to join, he was very welcome to do so.  
Patton looked down on himself, smile growing bigger and bigger. It was as if all the negative feelings he had about this before went poof. In an instant.  
“Hmm...”, he contemplated, “I wonder what Logan will think....”

_He would be supportive of course!_   
_... Right?_   
_..._   
_What if he thinks that’s weird?_   
_What if I embarrass him?_

A knock interrupted Patton’s train of thoughts.  
He went to the door and opened it just a little, hiding most of the outfit from whoever stood on the other side of the door.  
Of course, as if Patton had summoned him through telepathy, it was Logan.  
“Heya...”, he greeted shyly.  
“I’ve been wondering if you had a little time to spare.”, Logan wondered.  
“For what?”, Patton questioned.  
“Just spending time together.”, Logan answered bluntly.  
“Oh!”, Patton exclaimed, “Sure, but- uhm-...”, he stuttered.

_Well, no turning back now._

“Before that, I- uhm- gotta show you something.”, Patton, stepping aside while hiding behind the door, waved for Logan to come in, “But please don’t freak out!”  
The taller teen walked past his boyfriend, rather puzzled.  
“Is there any reason to-“, as he turned around, he understood Patton’s uneasiness. A blush crept up the top students face.  
The blond boy closed the door by leaning against it, hands hidden behind his back, head sunken out of embarrassment, but also fear of negative judgment.  
“Patton, what is the meaning of this?”, Logan asked confused.  
“Well, you see, I...”, Patton started to pick at the skin around his fingernails again, “I’ve always wanted to wear skirts and dresses for no real reason other than I like how they look. But I was always too scared to actually pull through.”  
“Did Remus help you out?”, Logan got closer to the tinier teen, inspecting him a little more, “I assume he would, considering he wore a skirt to school before, despite society’s standpoint on that.”  
“Y-yeah.”, Patton nodded, “He got me the skirt as an early birthday gift as well.”  
Patton looked up at Logan, crookedly smiling at him.  
“What do you think?”, he asked.  
The corners of Logan’s mouth turned upwards slightly.  
“It suits you. You look adorable.”, he complimented, “Both objectively and subjectively.”  
A wave of relief flooded over Patton. His posture relaxed as he sighed deeply.  
“Thanks, Lo.”, he smiled widely this time, “I really needed that.”  
“Of course.”, Logan said before planting a small kiss on the smaller teens lips.  
Before Logan was able to pull away, Patton wrapped his arms around the taller teens neck, making sure there was no free space between them. Their glasses clinked together a little awkwardly, but neither of them didn’t seem to mind.  
Even though, Logan enjoyed the attention, he needed to stop Patton by patting him on the back.  
“Hm?”, Patton hummed.  
Logan broke the kiss.  
“My back.”, he said.  
“Oh my gosh!”, Patton immediately let go of his boyfriend, “I’m so sorry!”  
Logan’s stitches were healing quite well. At this rate, he’d get the threads removed in a week. However, the broken rib would still take at least a month to fully heal. And he felt that.  
“Is it hurting a lot?”, Patton asked worried.  
“No, don’t worry.”, Logan denied, “But the pain was starting to build up again, that’s why I wanted to stop.”  
“I’m sorry...”, Patton apologized again.  
“It’s not your fault, don’t worry.”, Logan calmed the other boy down.  
“Do you need to sit down or something?”, Patton asked, trying to help as best as he could.  
“I think I can manage.”, Logan fixed his glasses, “But thank you nonetheless.”  
“Pat, Logan, would you mind coming downstairs real quick?”, came a voice from the living room. Catherine asked for the boys attention.  
The two made their way to the living room, taking their time as Logan didn’t want to move all too much.  
When they arrived at their destination, they noticed a third person standing in the middle of the room. A person, that hadn’t been part of the Hart family.  
Logan had been familiar with her already.  
“Good evening Logan!”, she greeted kindly.  
“Good evening, Kate.”, Logan greeted back.  
“I assume you’re Logan’s boyfriend then.”, Kate put her attention to Patton.  
“Y-yeah.”, he admitted shyly, “But, if I’m allowed to ask, who are you?”  
“My name is Kate, I’m from the child protective services.”, the woman explained, “Now don’t worry, I’m just here to check up on Logan and evaluate everything for the court. I’m not here to bring him to a foster family or anything.”  
The family continued to show Kate around the house, as she only had seen Logan’s room the last time she visited. While doing so, she asked the parents and Patton several questions about Logan and his parents.  
She was shocked to hear that Logan’s father would go far enough to hurt other children aside from his own. Not that that had been a right to do either.  
After about twenty minutes, Kate was done with her visit.  
“Okay.”, she sighed, “I don’t want to make promises, but from what I was able to gather today, you have very good chances, Logan.”  
“I do?”, Logan raised an eyebrow.  
Kate nodded.  
“Indeed.”, she confirmed, “Especially considering the lawyer you have with you. Mr Terrance knows what he’s doing.”  
Mr Terrance was Diane’s lawyer.  
He offered to help Logan with his case, which he would have happily accepted, if he had the money for it.

_“Don’t worry about it.”, Diane waved off, “I’ll take care of that for ya.”_   
_“What?”, Logan asked confused, “You want to pay the lawyer fees for me?”_   
_“Yeah.”, the Senior shrugged, “Unlike you, I actually have proper income.”_   
_“You do?”_   
_“I work at a tattoo shop during the weekends.”_   
_Logan looked at Diane with wide eyes._   
_“I’m at the reception.”, Diane cleared the air, “I’m not artistic enough to do the tattooing.”_   
_“Ah.”, Logan nodded._   
_“Plus, you can always sue your parents to pay for everything.”_   
_When Diane mentioned that, Janus’s words echoed through Logan’s head._   
_“Make their life a living hell.”, he muttered to himself._

“I will pass on the new information I gathered to the proper authorities.”, Kate made her way to the front door, followed by Mathew, “You should receive a letter within the next few days. Make sure to start preparing for the trial.”

After finishing their dinner, Janus and Remus sat next to each other in the bus, Janus hogging the window seat. They decided to head to the Storm residence for a little while before Remus would be picked up by his parents.  
“You haven’t met Medusa yet, right?”, Janus asked.  
“Who’s that?”, Remus wondered.  
“My python.”  
“You have a python?!”, Remus exclaimed excitedly, eyes lighting up with glee.  
“I do.”, Janus nodded, “Maybe Virgil is in a good mood and he’ll introduce you to Sir Spiderton as well.”  
“What kind of spider?”  
“A bird spider.”  
“I wanna pet it.”  
Janus let out a chuckle.  
“Of course you do.”, he hummed.  
“Can I also pet Medusa?”, Remus asked hopefully.  
“If she’s not sleeping, sure.”, Janus answered, “She’s very tame, she might even slither on your hand.”  
“Fuck yeah.”, Remus cheered quietly.  
“Oh, before I forget it.”, Janus rummaged in his back, which had been resting on his lap. He pulled out the bracelet he made the day prior. He put it on his wrist and held his hand, forming half a heart towards Remus.  
The twin gasped.  
“You made me Kandi?!”, he yelled in surprise.  
“Not so loud, we’re in a bus.”, Janus calmed him down, “But yes. I did.”  
Remus grinned widely as he finished the heart with his hand.  
Next was the peace sign.  
Janus hesitated a little, but eventually went for the intertwining hands bit of the handshake.  
He carefully pulled on the bracelet and moved it over to Remus’s wrist, struggling a bit to get past the knuckles.  
Remus decided to help, speeding up the process.  
“I tried making it look like a tentacle.”, Janus explained, “However, I hadn’t been able to properly work that into the pattern.”  
“Yeah, no, I can see the tentacle.”, Remus admired his new piece of jewelry while holding onto Janus’s hand, “It’s awesome, I love it.”, he then looked back up, staring directly into Janus’s two differently colored eyes, “Thank you.”  
Janus felt his heart pounding against his chest.  
Remus’s heterochromic eyes were filled with sincerity and admiration.  
Time seemed to have stopped for Janus.  
His surroundings felt surreal, all he had been able to focus on was the boy in front of him.

_This is ridiculous._

A voice in his head snapped him back to reality.  
He blinked a few times, realizing he had been holding onto Remus’s hand.  
“M-my apologies.”, he said as he broke the contact.  
Remus seemed disappointed at that gesture, but shrugged it off nonetheless. He didn’t seem to have minded.  
Janus quickly checked the outside to see where they have been.  
“Oh, next stop is ours.”, he pointed out.  
“Cool.”, Remus replied, a little absent minded.  
The rest of the afternoon was spent with relaxing and letting everything sink down. Janus even allowed Remus to feed Medusa a mouse, which the latter had been very excited about.  
Sadly, Virgil didn’t even allow the twin to come near his room. So meeting Sir Spiderton had to wait.  
The two teens just chatted for the most part.  
Remus laid on the foot end of Janus’s bed, letting his lower legs dangle freely, while Janus sat next to him, legs crossed.  
His gaze constantly wandered up to Remus’s face. Either Remus ignored the glances or didn’t notice them, as he never really reacted.  
Or maybe he liked being looked at like that.  
Suddenly, Janus’s phone interrupted the get together. He checked the caller ID and realized that it had been Logan, who tried to contact him.  
“I have to get this call. It’s Logan.”  
“Say hi from me!”, Remus grinned.  
“Will do.”; Janus said as he picked up, “Hello Logan. Also hello from Remus. ...Yes, he’s currently at my residence. ...No, it’s fine. ...Mhm. ...Kate? Yes, I know her, she was responsible for me as well. ...That’s good news. .......Okay, thank you for updating me. Are you going to be in school again on Monday? ...I see. Have a good weekend. Bye.”  
Janus hung up and placed his phone beside him on the bed.  
“I should say hello back. From Patton as well.”  
“Neato.”, Remus gave a thumbs up, “What were ya talking about?”  
“Logan updated me on his current situation.”, Janus filled in, “Him and the Hart family had been visited by someone from the CPS today.”  
“I guess that’s this Kate person you talked about.”, Remus hit the nail right on the head with his statement.  
“Yes.”, Janus nodded, “She’s a kind and competent woman.”  
“And... you already know her?”, Remus didn’t really know how to form the question without sounding too invasive.  
“Yes.”, Janus gulped, “She... rescued me from my alcoholic dad. She also matched me with the best parents I could have hoped for.”  
“I see why you’re so keen on helping Logan then.”  
“No child deserves parents like my birth parents, or Logan’s for that matter.”, Janus sighed, “That’s why I want to become a lawyer.”  
“Hm...”, Remus hummed, “I wanna be a medical examiner.”  
Janus turned his head confused.  
“Somehow I did not expect for you to pick that career.”, he elaborated.  
“I like cutting things open.”, Remus shrugged with his arms tucked behind his head, “But I wouldn’t trust myself with anyone alive under my knife, so. Why, what did you think I wanted to be?”  
“I don’t know.”, Janus turned his head back, “Maybe something like actor, or tattoo artist.”  
“I mean, if I don’t want anyone alive under my knife, why would I want anyone alive under my needle?”, the twin asked rhetorically, “And while I do like acting, that’s not my dream job. That’s Roman’s.”  
“Now that, I’m not surprised about.”, Janus chuckled.  
“Hehe.”, Remus chuckled alongside him.  
“I just hope that things turn out well for Logan.”, Janus uttered.  
“They turned out well for you, didn’t they?”, Remus reminded the blond teen.  
“... They did, yeah.”

_“Angelica! Get the fuck over here!”, Connor yelled for his daughter._   
_It was two PM on a Wednesday afternoon, 9 year old Angelica just got home from school._   
_And her father was already on the brink of being blackout drunk._   
_“Y-yes, dad?”, Angelica anxiously shuffled her way to the living room, only to be missed by a glass bottle that was thrown at her. It shattered on the wall behind her._   
_“Get me another one.”, Connor demanded aggressively._   
_“Okay.”, Angelica, in fear of getting beaten up, ran into the kitchen and to the fridge, to get another beer for her father. Only to realize, that there hadn’t been any left._   
_Connor would get real angry about this._   
_And usually he let out the anger on his only child._   
_The blonde girl made it back to the living room, preparing for the worst._   
_“We... don’t have any beer anymore.”, she admitted._   
_“Oh, for fucks sake.”, Connor snarled, “The go and get some.”_   
_“But-“_   
_“GO!”_   
_Terrified, Angelica ran out of the house, not even putting on shoes._   
_“Uh...”, she looked around the rundown neighborhood._   
_How was she supposed to get beer at her age and with no money?_   
_She decided to knock at the neighbors door to the right and asked if they had any spare to give to her._   
_Her neighbors were always kind. Sadly, they didn’t have a child Angelica could have played with. Her dad probably wouldn’t have even allowed it if they had a kid._   
_“Hello, Angelica!”, the woman smiled at the child, “How can I help you?”_   
_“I-I was wondering if you...”, the elementary schooler nervously played with her fingers, “I was wondering if you had any beer for my dad.”_   
_“Beer?”, the neighbor wondered, “Uhm... Let me check, okay?”_   
_“Okay.”, Angelica nodded, waiting patiently for the adult to come back._   
_It took about five minutes until the neighbor made it back to the door._   
_“I can offer three bottles.”, she handed the child the alcohol, “I hope that’s enough.”_   
_“Thank you.”, Angelica nodded and went back to her home._   
_When the grown woman closed the door again, she grabbed her phone and made a call._   
_“Hello, police? My neighbor just sent his 9 year old daughter to get beer from us.”_   
_The same afternoon, police, accompanied by CPS, knocked at the Serpin’s front door._   
_“Angelica, go get the door!”, Connor yelled for his child._   
_Quick footsteps came from the inside, getting louder by each second. It didn’t take too long for the door to open._   
_“Hello?”, Angelica asked with a delicate voice._   
_“Hello, little girl.”, the woman greeted, “My name is Kate, who are you?”_   
_“Angelica.”, the kid replied shyly._   
_“Is there any chance your parents are home?”, Kate asked with a smile._   
_“My dad is here.”_   
_“Would you get him for us?”_   
_“He’s right there.”, the child pointed at the sofa behind her._   
_“Mr Serpin?”, Kate called out the father._   
_“What?”, he drunkenly yelled from the couch._   
_“Kate Myers, I’m from CPS, and I have the police with me.”_

“She took me with them the day they visited us for the first time.”, Janus explained, “There was enough evidence against my birth father that showed that he had been neglecting and abusing me.”  
“But why did the neighbor give you beer anyways?”, Remus wondered.  
“Out of protection.”, Janus elaborated, “Connor would have beaten me if I had come home empty handed. My neighbors always had been suspicious of my birth father. And I guess that had been the final incident that made them go far enough and call the police.”  
“Did he at least get punished?”, Remus questioned, a little angrily.  
“I don’t remember.”, Janus shook his head, “Most likely he did, but it was probably more or less a slap on the wrist. I don’t remember much about my childhood to be honest.”  
“I wouldn’t want to remember either if I were you.”, Remus finally sat up, letting his arms rest between his legs, hands now dangling from the bed as well.  
He did the brave step of leaning his head nod Janus’s shoulder.  
Which made Janus feel secure.  
He leaned his head onto Remus’s. The twin didn’t seem to mind that little gesture.  
“I need to know.”, Janus spoke up, “Is there a chance you replaced me with Diane?”  
“You fucking kidding me?”, Remus spat, “No one could replace you. Is that why you hate her?”  
“... I wouldn’t say that I hate her.”, Janus admitted, “I just felt replaced, that’s all.”  
“D.W. is pretty chill.”, Remus said while inching a little closer with his body, “But she’s not you.”  
That’s all Janus needed to hear for now.

Monday morning.  
Logan was finally back in school. However, he needed help with carrying his new school bag around.  
His old one still had been at his old home.  
Patton had a bunch of replacements Logan could use, including an old, basic grey backpack.  
Although, Logan needed help carrying that backpack around. Which Patton had been happy to do for him.  
“Are you sure you’re okay to go?”, Patton asked for what probably must have been the twentieth time.  
“I can assure you, I will be okay.”, Logan confirmed, “As long as I’m getting support, I’ll be fine.”  
“I’m sure the others will help too!”, Patton smiled.  
Speaking of, the twins had just arrived. Remus, like he promised, wore a skirt. Not the same one he did last time. This time it was a black and white skater skirt, similar in cut to Patton’s cat skirt.  
“Hell yeah!”, Remus cheered, “Lookin’ good, padre!”  
“Thanks!”, Patton smiled widely, “I certainly feel good!”  
“Glad to see you back, teach.”, Roman waved at Logan.  
“I certainly am glad to be back.”, Logan nodded with a smile, “Staying home got quite boring.”  
Suddenly, laughter erupted next to the group of boys.  
It was a group of girls, passing by, one of which had been Ashley.  
“I can’t believe you’re still showing face, Croft.”, she spat.  
“What... do you mean?”, he raised an eyebrow confused.  
“Oh, come on!”, she laughed more, “Your parents are criminals! My dad fired your dad on the spot!”  
A sense of joy bubbled up on Logan’s chest.  
However, he didn’t show that on the outside.  
On the other hand, Roman and Patton were grinning widely at Logan, while Remus laughed wholeheartedly.  
“Could you... repeat that again?”, Logan asked.  
“Are you deaf and blind?!”, Ashley yelled at him, “Your dad got fired! How come you don’t know? Is he too ashamed to tell you?”  
Whereas other people would feel some form of empathy, all Logan felt was utter joy and even Schadenfreude.  
The picture perfect life his parents had been building up ever since he was born, far before that even, started to crumble bit by bit.  
Logan didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry tears of joy.  
So he did neither for now.  
“God, you’re so fucking weird.”, Ashley scoffed, “I’m glad the dinner never happened.”  
“So am I, Ashley, so am I.”, Logan replied.  
“Pff, sure, whatever, freak.”, Ashley and her friends went on their merry way, “Try to not become homeless!”, she yelled.  
“I’m not going to correct her.”, Logan shrugged.  
Remus was still laughing as Janus and Virgil joined the group. Virgil kept a little distance though, especially from the twins.  
“Uhm...”, Janus pointed at Remus, “What’s he so excited about?”  
“Ashley just informed me, that my father had been fired from his job.”, Logan filled in.  
Remus’s laugh became louder again as Logan mentioned the misery Austin had to endure.  
“Oh.”, a devilish smirk speed across Janus’s face, “Marvelous.”  
While Janus and Logan kept their conversation up, and Patton tried to calm Remus, Roman glanced over at Virgil.  
He still felt bad about the thing he did to the smaller teen at the sleepover. Despite having apologized.  
But the apology alone didn’t seem to cut it for the twin.  
Like Patton had said before, sometimes one must swallow their pride.  
Maybe even more than once.  
Roman was hoping this bad feeling, that had been hovering over his head, would disappear once he kept distance from Virgil. Oh boy, was he wrong.  
Quite the opposite happened, it got worse. But the twin didn’t dare to talk to anyone about this, not even his own brother.  
Roman took a deep breath and made his way towards Virgil.  
“Hey.”, he greeted the emo carefully.  
“What do you want?”, Virgil immediately hissed.  
“Just-“, Roman pinched the bridge of his nose slightly annoyed, “To talk, okay?”  
“Hey, only because our brothers get along again, doesn’t mean we need to do the same.”, Virgil crossed his arms and took a step away from Roman.  
“Gosh, why are you so stubborn?”, Roman complained.  
“I could ask you the same thing!”, Virgil countered.  
“I don’t even know why I’m trying with you!”, Roman yelled frustrated.  
Roman’s attempt to make amends went from zero to a hundred real quick.  
Even Remus was impressed. Negatively. He stopped laughing entirely.  
“Why are you so pissed, man?!”, Virgil argued back, raising his volume as well, “Am I the first person you weren’t able to wrap around your finger?! Oh, boo hoo, little Prince doesn’t get what he wants for once? Sucks to be you!”  
Everyone stared at the two boys, more on Virgil than on Roman, in shock.  
Janus was surprised by his brother. He never expected for him to be able to snap that hard at someone within seconds.  
Remus didn’t quite believe that someone like Virgil was able to put Roman in his place. Unless it had been fun banter, and it wasn’t even every time there either, Roman would never admit defeat. His pride didn’t allow it.  
Virgil wanted to leave. His legs ready to make a run for it.  
Janus felt like he needed to step in.  
“Roman.”, he called out to the twin.  
“What?”, Roman snapped as he turned his head.  
“Leave him alone.”, Janus glared at Roman.  
“You can’t tell me what to do.”, Roman barked.  
Janus sighed.  
“See you guys later.”, Janus said bye, mainly to Patton and Remus, as he’s going to see them in class.  
He then walked past Roman, towards Virgil.  
“Let’s go.”, the taller brother placed a hand on the tinier brothers shoulder and guided him away from the others.  
“Oh no, we’re not going to leave it at that!”, Roman didn’t want to give up just yet. He started to dash towards the Storm brothers, but was held back by a hand wrapped around his upper arm.  
“I can’t believe I have to be the voice of reason.”, Remus sighed, “But chill the fuck out.”  
“Oh, so you get to have your fun little date with Janus and suddenly you’re the bestest of friends again, but when I try to make amends, I have to chill?!”, Roman argued.  
“Dude, what the fuck is up your butt?”, Remus questioned a little too loud.  
Roman aggressively sighed.  
“I- I don’t know.”, he let his head hang low, “I’ve been extremely bugged by what happened at the sleepover.”  
“Did you apologize to Virgil?”, Patton wondered.  
“I did.”, Roman filled him in, “But his response was on the line of “I’m glad we’re not friends anymore”. He probably never saw me as his friend in the first place...”  
Remus, Logan and Patton exchanged worried glances between each other.  
“Look, I dunno what to tell ya.”, Remus let go of his brothers arm, “Usually you’re the one giving me advice, that I rarely listen to. But maybe you just need to let this whole thing rest for a little longer.”  
“He knows you’re sorry.”, Patton chimed in, “That’s a good start.”  
“I don’t know...”, Roman rubbed his neck, “I don’t think time will fix this either.”  
“Then fuck him.”, Remus shrugged, “You got us, why would you need a pessimistic emo in your life?”  
“It’s just devastating.”, Roman uttered, “We had such a great time when we were playing Kingdom Hearts. We were chatting and laughing, and cursing out the end boss we tried to defeat. Not to mention that we both love Disney. I just thought- I just thought that this could have been the start of a great friendship.”  
Roman ended his ramble with another sigh.  
“Yeah, that’s clearly more than just wanting to be friends with him.”, Remus thought.  
“I’m sure you’ll get another chance to make it up to him.”, Patton comforted Roman, “But until then, you have to be patient.”  
“But I feel like doo doo.”, Roman mumbled, keeping his level of profanities to toddler level.  
“Oh my god, say shit already.”, Remus groaned.  
“Sometimes, you just feel that way.”, Patton gave Roman a comforting smile, “But that’s okay!”  
“So things will get better.”, Roman stated, with a little hope in his voice.  
“I can’t promise anything.”, Patton shook his head, “But I can assure you that they won’t get worse.”  
Remus raised a finger.  
“I wouldn’t-“  
“Shut it, Remus.”, Logan stopped him from finishing his sentence.  
He knew Remus already had plenty of ideas how the entire situation could go worse.  
Some of which were probably not too pleasant to hear. Probably involved death.

“Virgil.”, Janus called out to his brother.  
“What?”, Virgil grumbled.  
“Talk to me.”, Janus offered.  
The brothers took a turn into the classroom they were supposed to be in in a few moments. They took a seat at the very back, as always. They set down their bags on the ground.  
“What is there to talk about really.”, Virgil leaned his head on his hand, “I just wanna be left alone.”  
“Understandable.”, Janus nodded, “But do you remember what you told me when I had that little... miscommunication with Remus?”  
“... That you should at least hear him out?”, Virgil uttered, fully knowing what Janus would say next.  
“Exactly.”, Janus nodded, “I’m not forcing you to do the same with Roman. Quite frankly, I can’t stand his narcissism and over the top behavior-“  
“But Remus is okay?”, Virgil raised an eyebrow at his brother.  
“At least he’s not a narcissist.”, Janus added, “But, what I’m trying to say is, is that you should perhaps practice what you preach.”  
“Said the liar.”, Virgil noted sarcastically.  
“I will drink the last bit of milk so that you don’t have anything for your coffee in the morning.”, Janus threatened, half serious.  
“Okay, okay!”, the purple haired boy threw his hands in the air, signaling defeat, “I’ll hear him out, I guess. Not today though. I don’t have the energy for that.”  
“Acceptable.”, Janus nodded.

“Are you doing well?”, Patton asked Logan once classes had been over.  
The former made an effort to be at the science class room before Logan had left it, to help him carry his bag.  
“I’m fine.”, Logan handed his backpack over, “Although, I would love to lay down right about now.”  
“I’m sure mom is already waiting for us!”, Patton cheered. Logan gave a small smile back.  
It took them a while to get outside, as Patton purposely walked slower for Logan.  
Causing them to be the last two to join the group of teens and adults outside.  
The Kingsley twins, the Storm brothers, both sets accompanied by one parent each, Maria and Casper to be precise, and Patton’s parents stood in the parking lot, having a conversation. They all somewhat simultaneously turned their heads once Catherine pointed out that her child finally made it outside.  
“What’s going on?”, Logan questioned.  
“We got letters today.”, Catherine filled in, “We were just chatting until Maria pointed that out.”  
“Regarding my case?”, Logan raised an eyebrow.  
The group of adults gave a collective nod.  
Roman and Remus on the other hand, gave both Patton and Logan an apologetic look.  
“The court day is on October 19th.”, Mathew informed the remaining two teens.  
Patton expression instantly fell.  
Of course, it had to be on October 19th.  
There went the surprise date and the surprise party. All the plans, down the drain.  
He didn’t want to cry.  
At least that’s what his mind told him.  
But tears were already building up in his eyes.  
“Pat-!”, Roman instantly noticed. Suddenly, all the attention was drawn to the smallest teen.  
“Patton, what’s wrong?”, Logan carefully placed a hand on his boyfriends shoulder.  
Patton took off his glasses and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.  
“It’s just-“, he sniffled, putting his glasses back on, “We had this plan- that-“  
The more Patton spoke, the more violent his tears and hiccups got.  
Logan carefully pulled him into a side hug, considering a normal hug was out of the question for a while, stroking the teens upper arm.  
“Patton and I had-“, Roman wanted to explain.  
“Ahem.”, however, Remus interrupted him.  
Roman rolled his eyes.  
“Patton, Remus, and I- that’s better?”  
Remus nodded triumphantly.  
“You barely did anything, but anyways!”, Roman clapped his hands once, “We had made plans together for your guy’s birthday.”, Roman continued explaining, “Part of which was a very well planned out date with only the two of you. And then a party afterwards.”  
“We can still do that.”, Logan replied without hesitation, “Just not on our birthday.”  
“Hmmmm.”, Patton hummed crushed. He didn’t like that idea at all, but had to deal with it.  
The date for the court was inflexible.  
“Depending on how long the court session will go,-“, Janus chimed in, “- perhaps you could still celebrate afterwards. From personal experience, courts want to get things done fast.”  
“Hey, you guys sure as hell are coming too!”, Remus pointed at the Storm brothers, “We already planned to invite you two as well.”  
“You... did?”, Janus questioned.  
“Well, while we were on bad terms with each other during the first drafts...”, Roman scratched his chin, “You guys were and still are Patton’s and Logan’s friends. And it’s their birthday after all.”  
Patton, still a crying, but slowly calming, mess, nodded.  
“Oh.”, Janus exclaimed, glancing at his brother.  
Virgil’s expression didn’t really look all too positive.  
“But for now, we have to focus on Logan’s case.”, Mathew pointed out, “We have to consult a lawyer and gather evidence and whatnot.”  
“I already know a lawyer that could help us.”, Logan informed the adults.

Later that night, Patton flipped through his scrap book while sitting on his bed. It had been the same book he had the date idea mapped out.  
“...”, he carefully caressed the little trinkets he glued onto the page with his left index and middle finger, trying not to break anything off.  
He then let out a sigh.

_Maybe Logan wants to see this._

He grabbed his book and quickly jumped out of his bed, making a quick jog for Logan’s room.  
He knocked a little tune, which didn’t really help Logan indicate who the person on the other side of the door was. As Mathew and Catherine did the same most of the time.  
“Yes?”, Logan yelled from the inside.  
“It’s me!”, Patton cheered, “Can I come in?”  
“Of course!”  
With a satisfied giggle, Patton opened the door, spotting Logan resting on his bed.  
He sat at a somewhat upright posture, legs, slightly crossed at the ankles, spread across the bed. He’d been holding a book he had gotten from the school library, identifiable by the sticker on the back, in his hands.  
“Heya!”, Patton greeted with a joy filled grin. He closed the door behind him with his foot.  
“Good evening, Patton.”, Logan closed the book and put it aside. He then pat the empty space next to him, indicating for he other boy to take a seat.  
Which Patton did, carefully of course, facing Logan.  
“I wanted to show you the scrap book entry I made for our date.”, Patton explained, “If that’s okay with you.”  
“I’d love to see it.”, Logan encouraged his boyfriend.  
“Yay!” Patton softly placed the book on Logan’s lap.  
“Okay, so, basically, I wanted to take you to the observatory the museum has.”, Patton started explaining, “We could have watched the stars, and looked at the cool things they have on display, and you could have told me some neat facts about space and all that.”  
He sighed sadly.  
“Patton, I adore your idea.”, Logan leaned forward to give the tinier teen a kiss on the forehead, “I can’t wait for it to happen.”  
“I’m just devastated that we can’t actually do that on our birthday.”, Patton sulked.  
“It is a pity, I admit.”, Logan agreed, “But we can still make it happen.”  
“But... I wanted to make you feel special...”, Patton shyly tugged on the hems of his skirt.  
“That will most happen either way.”, Logan reassured the blond boy, “It’s our first date as boyfriends after all.”  
Patton giggled, hiding his face behind one sleeve.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's court time, let's see if Logan can win against his parents.
> 
> Also quick side note, this is the first time I've ever written anything with a court room scenario, so uh. Might not be as accurate, especially considering I'm German and I have no clue how american courts work. I did research though.
> 
> Trigger warnings: mentions of mental and physical abuse, mentions of infidelity, mentions of homophobia, mentions of self harm

Between balancing school, doctor appointments and appointments with the lawyer, Logan became stressed out rather quickly.  
He brought that up to Dr Picani.  
“Usually, I worked well under pressure, but recently, that seems to be pushing me over the edge fairly quick.”, he explained.  
The doctor on the laptop screen nodded.  
“Tell me, what did you do back then to relieve the stress?”, he asked the teen.  
“...”, Logan thought for a moment. He then glanced down at his arm.  
“Self harm.”, he admitted.  
“When was the last time you did that?”, Emile wondered.  
“Shortly before I went to the hospital.”, Logan elaborated, “I haven’t done it for a while, despite being triggered a small amount of times.”  
“Is the current stress causing you to think about it again?”  
Logan took a deep breath.  
He didn’t want to admit it, but he had to.  
“Yes.”, he uttered disappointed.  
“And what do you do to fight against it?”  
“Distracting for the most part.”  
“How?”  
“I take a break and start a conversation with whoever is available. It’s Patton, for the most part.”  
“A good start.”, Emile nodded contently.  
“I also make an effort to keep in mind, that the stress is only temporary.”, Logan gulped, “However... I’m terrified that I may break down in the court.”  
“How so?”, Emile raised an eyebrow.  
“I... don’t want to cry in front of my parents.”, Logan took a deep breath, “I do not want to give them the satisfaction to visibly show them, that they broke me.”  
“That’s understandable.”, the therapist fixed his glasses, “I recommend bringing a small fidget toy with you to discreetly distract yourself.”  
“Okay.”, Logan agreed without much of a second thought.  
“Well, I hope the case is going to end well for you.”, Emile smiled, giving Logan some mental strength, “We have to end it here for now though. I will send you an e-mail with further details for our next session, as always!”  
“Thank you, Dr. Picani.”

October 19th came around faster than anticipated.  
The Hart family and Logan were the first ones to arrive at the courthouse.  
The two teen boys held hands, mainly to calm each other’s nerves.  
The session wouldn’t start for another hour.  
“Happy birthday, you dorks!”, boomed a loud voice from behind them. As the couple turned their heads, they spotted the Kingsley family.  
Remus had been the one to wish Logan and Patton a happy birthday.  
“Thanks Remus!”, Patton smiled. Not as cheery as usual, he was still beat down by the fact that him and Logan weren’t at the museum right now.  
“Happy birthday, guys!”, Roman then joined the birthday wishes, he even went as far and gave the birthday boys a quick hug each.  
“I really hope the trial will be over quickly.”, Patton prayed, “I really don’t feel like spending my entire 17th birthday in here.”  
“That feeling is mutual.”, Logan uttered.  
“Don’t worry.”, Roman reassured the boyfriends, “We’re still going to have an awesome party. Speaking of, Remus and I made some changes regarding the party.”  
“Oh?”, Patton perked up.  
“Yeah, we set up the entire thing at our place yesterday.”, Remus scratched his ear, “We didn’t know if we had enough time to bring everything to your place and set it up there.”  
“Of course, you guys can stay over night as well.”, Roman added, “I just hope this sleepover won’t end as disastrous as the last one...”  
“And maybe-“, Remus chimed in again, “-we can also celebrate your victory over your parents!”  
“You’re sure I’m going to win?”, Logan questioned.  
“Well, duh.”, Remus rolled his eyes, “What do they have against you?”  
“Lies, most likely.”, Logan pointed out.  
“That would be bad for their case then.”, came another voice.  
The group of teens put their attention to the source, spotting the Storm family.  
“Happy birthday, you two.”, Janus smiled lightly.  
Logan and Patton each gave their thanks.  
“Yeah, happy birthday.”, Virgil wished them shyly.  
“Is your lawyer here already?”, Janus wondered.  
“Yes.”, Logan answered, “He’s currently setting things up.”  
“Very well.”, Janus folded his hands behind his back.  
The last one to arrive was Diane.  
Almost everyone had been surprised by her presence.  
“What?”, she noticed that immediately, “Surprised to see me?”  
“Quite frankly, yes.”, Logan answered confused.  
“Didn’t I tell you I was invited as well?”, she glanced between the boys.  
“You didn’t.”, Logan confirmed, “At least not to us.”  
“Hm, must have forgotten, heh.”, the Senior student chuckled.  
“Hey, is it okay if D.W. joins us later too?”, Remus asked the birthday boys.  
“Huh what?”, Diane shot a confused look at Remus.  
“I don’t have anything against that.”, Logan affirmed.  
“The more the merrier!”, Patton grinned, “We have enough cake for one more person!”  
“Y’all wanna fill me in or nah?”, Diane glanced back and forth between the boys.  
“It’s their birthday, we’re having a party later.”, Remus quickly elaborated.  
“And you have to spend your birthdays in the courthouse?!”, Diane exclaimed in shock.  
“It is what it is.”, Logan shrugged.  
“But we’re still gonna have a lit party at our place afterwards.”, Remus told Diane with a grin.  
“I mean, I’m in, but I don’t have a gift or anything.”, Diane scratched her head.  
“Just give us twenty bucks and we’ll throw your name on the cards.”, Remus offered with slight sarcasm.  
Diane went into her satchel and got her briefcase, getting $20 in form of two tens and handed them to the twin.  
“There you go.”, she said while putting the briefcase away.  
“Oh, neat!”, Remus almost pocketed the entire money himself.  
“Hey, there’s a reason why I gave you two $10.”, Diane stopped him.  
“Ugh.”, Remus had hoped no one would catch on. He gave one $10 bill to Roman.  
“Thank you.”, Roman snatched the money with a snarky tone.  
“Well, I guess we gotta wait now, huh?”, Diane kicked an imaginary pebble, “Did the demons from the last circle of hell appear already?”  
“Huh, I didn’t know my birth parents would be here today too.”, Janus joked.  
“Ayeee, good one!”, Diane complimented.  
After making amends with Remus, Janus decided to give Diane a chance.  
And she wasn’t the friend stealing person Janus thought she was. She had been quite enjoyable actually.  
Even Virgil enjoyed having her around.  
“They haven’t made it yet.”, Logan shook his head, “Not that I know of.”  
“Oh, before I forget.”, Virgil rummaged in his jackets pocket for a moment, “Here.”, he held a fist towards Logan.  
“Thank you so much.”, Logan exhaled, receiving a cube shaped item.  
Logan had asked Virgil if he had a spare fidget toy he could borrow, as neither Patton nor Remus had any. So Virgil brought a fidget cube.  
“You can keep it, I have, like, ten of those.”, Virgil added, “Think about it as a birthday present or something.”  
“Thank you.”, Logan smiled.  
“My personal favorites are the buttons.”, Virgil pointed at the side of the cube that looked like a dice, “However they make noise so I wouldn’t use them in court.”  
“Got it.”  
The lighthearted aura dropped instantly when the opposing part of the court case arrived.  
Austin and Susan, accompanied by their lawyer, stared Logan down as grim as humanly possible. In an attempt to intimidate him.  
But he didn’t let the negativity get to him.  
He stood tall and proud, ready to make his parents life even more miserable.

“Please rise.”, the bailiff called to the people present in the court, “This honorable court of the Sandersburgh Judicial Circuit with the Honorable Judge Valerie is now in session.”  
After the court formalities, such as the oath to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, everyone had been seated again.  
Nervousness rose in Logan’s chest. He felt a thousand eyes staring at the back of his head, despite not even a hundred people being present.  
“We’ll get through this, don’t worry.”, Mr. Terrance whispered, clearly noticing the nervousness the teen had been experiencing.  
“This is the case of Logan Croft, who will be referred to as the plaintiff in the following statements, versus Susan and Austin Croft, who will be referred to as the defendants.”, the judge started, “The charges against the defendants are as followed: child neglect, physical and mental child abuse, disregard for the minors safety, and hate crime. Are there any opening statements?”  
“Your honor.”, the defense attorney got up from their seat, “In this trial, I will prove, that the claims are completely false. For one, my defendants made sure to provide for their son for the past 17 years of his life-“  
“Objection, there’s plenty of proof and witnesses, that prove how badly they neglected my plaintiff!”, Mr Terrance interrupted the defense lawyer.  
“Call your first witness, please.”, Judge Valerie ordered.  
“Very well.”, the plaintiffs lawyer nodded, “I would like to call Patton Hart to the stand.”  
Patton got up from his seat behind Logan and nervously shuffled his way to the stand.  
“Patton.”, Mr. Terrance made his way to the witness stand once Patton took his seat, “What is your and Logan’s relationship?”  
Patton shot a nervous glance at his partner. He knew, he wasn’t supposed to lie, but he also didn’t want to out Logan to anyone.  
Logan gave an affirming nod, telling Patton that he could go ahead.  
“We’re boyfriends.”, Patton spoke into the microphone.  
“And is it true, that my plaintiffs sexual orientation was the main reason, why the defendants kicked him out of their home?”  
“Objection! The plaintiff clearly ran away by himself!”  
“Objection! If that had been the case, Mr and Mrs Croft would have filed a report to the police, which never happened!”, Mr. Terrance immediately debunked his opponents claim, “Now, Patton.”  
“Uh, thank you.”, Patton nodded, “Well, yes. To answer your question, that was the reason.”  
“Would you please elaborate on that further?”  
“Well, on the last day of school, I had invited Logan to the barbecue my dad hosted the day after. The next day, when Logan arrived, I brought his bag upstairs, which had been surprisingly heavy for just a one night sleepover. When I asked him about that, he told me his parents kicked him out because he slipped up.”  
“So he had to hide his true identity in front of the defendants?”  
“Y-yeah...”  
“I see.”, Mr Terrance nodded, “Now, tell us, how long have you known Logan for?”  
“Pretty much my entire life.”, Patton clarified, “We met each other in kindergarten for the first time.”  
“And can you tell us what his behavior had been like with his parents and then without?”  
“Hmm...”, Patton played with his fingers, “Logan usually enjoyed his time without his parents more than he did with them. I remember whenever we had play dates as kids, or just hung out in general, most of the time we would go to my place. Logan’s parents had always seemed pretty strict.”  
“Thank you.”, the lawyer questioning Patton nodded, “Is it true, that the defendant Mr Croft physically hurt you?”  
Patton nodded hastily.  
“How?”  
“He grabbed my shoulder so hard, that it bruised. I had the bruise for a week!”  
“Objection! Is there any proof of that?”, the defendant attorney yelled.  
“Overruled.”, the judge determined, banging the gavel on the wooden plate.  
“What-“  
“I’m sure Mr Terrance will present proof of that in a bit.”, Judge Valerie explained.  
“I do have proof. And multiple witnesses for that incident as well.”, Mr Terrance smiled triumphantly, “I would like to call my next witness to the stand. Remus Duke Kingsley.”  
Patton and Remus quickly traded places.  
“Before we get to the part where defendant Mr. Croft harmed Patton, I would like to ask you some other questions.”  
“Gimme all you got, my lawyer-man.”, Remus pointed a finger gun at Mr. Terrance.  
His mothers, Roman, Janus and Virgil collectively smacked their foreheads.  
“What’s your relation to Logan?”  
“We’re friends, schoolmates, used to be roommates in the psych ward-“, Remus counted on one hand until he got interrupted.  
“The psych ward?”  
“Yeah! That’s where we met!”, Remus filled in, a bit too joyously.  
“So you can confirm, that Logan had, and still has, struggles with his mental health, correct?”  
“He’s better off than me, I can tell you that, hehe. But yeah, he does.”  
“Your honor, to support Remus’s claim, I brought my plaintiffs medical record with me.”  
Logan had purposely handed copies of the medical records to Mr. Terrance.  
The lawyer made his way to his briefcase and pulled out a bunch of papers. He then handed them to the judge.  
“As you can see, the diagnosis can be traced back to the mishandling from the defendants.”  
Judge Valerie flipped through the pages, taking a few moments to read a few paragraphs.  
“You’re doing a miserable job!”, Susan angrily whispered at her lawyer.  
“I told you from the get go that we don’t have a big chance of winning!”, they whispered back.  
“Remus. Is it true that you had to tackle Mr. Croft away from Patton?”  
“Yeah.”, Remus shrugged, “Janus tried getting his hand off, but he was too strong.”  
“Is it also true, that you harmed Mr. Croft after you’ve tackled him to the ground?”  
“Oh no.”, Janus muttered.  
“He’s gonna lie, isn’t he?”; Diane asked Janus quietly.  
“No. That’s the problem.”  
“Yeah, I decked him in the face.”, Remus admitted nonchalantly.  
“And why did you do that?”, the judge wondered.  
“He was about to get up again and attack me.”, Remus defended himself, “It was self defense.”  
"I'd say that's a nice save.", Diane whispered.  
"Hm.", Janus affirmed with a nod.  
“Objection! He also harmed Mrs. Croft for no reason!”, the lawyer of the opposite party interfered.  
“Bullsh- ‘scuse me!”, Remus managed to bite his tongue last second, “Nonsense! She also came charging towards me!”  
“Because you punched my husband!”, Susan yelled angrily.  
“Your husband beat Logan with a damn leather belt, are you kidding me?!”, Remus argued back, forcing Judge Valerie to bring order back in the court.  
“Quiet!”, she hammered with the gavel over and over until the court got quiet again.  
“Remus, can anyone, aside from Patton, confirm your claim?”, Mr. Terrance tried steering the conversation back to the topic at hand.  
“Roman and Janus.”, Remus pointed at the two teens in the back of the room, “And probably like a whole bunch of other students.”  
“I see. Now, tell me....”  
Mr. Terrance continued his questioning. After he was done with Remus, he called Diane to the stand. She mainly talked about the night before her and Logan went to the police.  
After her, Roman, Janus and Virgil were called, in that order. They mainly confirmed previous claims that have been made about them. Plus, Janus added that Logan and Mathew had visited his family to get some information on how to help Logan in his situation.  
“Thank you, Janus.”, Mr. Terrance dismissed the teen, “I would now like to call Logan Croft to the stand.”  
As Janus walked by Logan, he whispered a quick “You’ve got this!”, for encouragement.  
As Logan took a seat, he took a deep breath. Hands folded on the desk in front of him, concealing the fidget cube Virgil gave him.  
“Logan.”, Mr. Terrance put on a softer tone in his voice, “We had six people speak out against your parents. Are the things they said true?”  
“I can’t confirm for every claim they stated to be true.”, Logan explained, “For one, I wasn’t present when my father supposedly hurt Patton. But I saw the bruise. However, I can confirm most claims to be the truth.”  
It was a miracle, that he had been able to form well structured sentences. The nervousness made his thumb go ballistic on the fidget toy he had been holding in secret.  
“Claims like, you were able to cram all your personal belongings; clothes, books, a laptop; into one bag?”  
“Yes.”, Logan confirmed with a nod, “If you were to visit my old room at my parents house, you would only find my old school bag.”  
“Why is your old school bag still there?”  
“I was once picked up by my parents instead of Patton’s. They took me home with them, confiscated my phone and, well, “taught me a lesson”, as my father put it.”, Logan tried his best to remain as calm as possible.  
“I know, this is a tough subject for you.”, Mr. Terrance showed some empathy, “But I would like you to tell us what that lesson had been.”  
Logan gulped.  
“Several hits on my naked back with a leather belt. On top of that, several kicks in the ribs.”  
Austin balled his fists in an attempt to stay calm.  
Which didn’t help.  
He was about to burst.  
“Is it true, that you have to refer to your parents by their first name?”, Mr. Terrance asked.  
“Yes.”, Logan affirmed.  
“Because you have no right to call me your father!”, Austin yelled.  
“Austin-“, Susan tried calming her husband down.  
“And you have no right to pretend that this bastard is my child!”, Austin pointed at Logan.  
“Mr. Croft, what is the meaning of this?”, Judge Valerie asked slightly ticked off.  
“This is not my child!”, Austin pressed further.  
“Austin, shut up!”, Susan now yelled.  
“No, you shut up, woman!”, Austin got up from his seat, “I’m done pretending!”  
“Order in the Court!”, the judge banged the gavel again, “Mr. Croft! Sit down this instant!”  
“Actually, your honor, I would like to call Mr. Croft to the stand.”, Mr. Terrance interfered.  
“Very well.”, Judge Valerie nodded.  
Logan went back to his previous seat, making space for Austin.  
“Mr. Croft, would you like to elaborate on your outburst further?”, Mr. Terrance asked.  
“Let’s be real, we’re going to lose the case anyway.”, Austin huffed, “Yes, I beat him up, yes, I bruised Patton’s shoulder, yes, Susan and I didn’t treat him like our child. Because he isn’t.”  
“How so?”  
“I’m not-“, Austin took a deep breath, “I’m not Logan’s father.”  
Logan froze.  
Susan sunk in her chair.  
Everyone else gasped in shock.  
“Susan had an affair with a coworker of hers. We never wanted children, so when we found out she was pregnant, I immediately demanded several paternity tests once Logan was born. Every test came out negative.”  
“But how come you were the one filling in the father role then?”, Judge Valerie wondered.  
“I was persuaded in signing the adoption papers.”, Austin glared at Logan, “Every time I see your face, I feel an anger bubbling up in my stomach. Not only did my own wife cheat on me, it produced a product i was forced to take care of.”  
Something snapped in Logan’s mind.  
“Well.”, he gritted his teeth, “This is not a reason to treat me like a piece of _shit_.”  
“Oh, it isn’t?!”, Austin’s argued, “Try being in my situation.”  
“No, it isn’t.”, Judge Valerie supported Logan’s claim, “It’s not the child’s fault that your wife had been unfaithful.”  
“Fine, whatever.”, Austin had clearly given up at this point, “Charge us. Let’s get this over with.”  
“Does anyone have any further claims or objections?”, the judge glanced around the uncomfortably quiet room.  
“Very well.”, Judge Valerie cleared her throat, “Has the jury reached its verdict?”  
One person from the jury table stood up, “Yes, your honor. The jury has voted and determined that the defendants Susan and Austin Croft are guilty in all charges.”  
“I herby grant Logan Croft the full emancipation.”, the judge hammered once.  
Logan wished he could feel a sigh of relief building up in his chest. However, that hadn’t been the case.  
“Austin Croft. I herby sentence you to five years without probation, for neglecting your child and mentally and physically harming him, and also for harming another minor. Susan Croft, I herby sentence you to three years on probation. Added to that, you have to pay compensation to your child, and the full charge of every medical and court related bill the plaintiff received and will receive in the future. On top of that, you will have to pay alimony to Logan, until he has turned 21. Both Mr and Mrs Croft have to keep a distance of 15 feet between them and Logan.”  
Judge Valerie hammered one last time, figuratively setting the verdict in stone.  
“He can bet his lousy ass, that I will get a divorce.”, Susan uttered to herself.  
“Trial dismissed.”, the judge let everyone leave.  
While the people behind Logan were celebrating the teens win, the black haired boy stood up, thanked his lawyer, and dashed out of the room.  
“Logan, wait!”, Patton quickly caught on and ran after his partner.  
Patton had a hard time keeping up with the much taller teen. He was glad when Logan stopped outside, taking a seat on the stairs that led inside the court house. He leaned his head in his hands.  
“Hey...”, Patton, who had been a bit out of breath, took a seat next to Logan.  
“...”, Logan remained quiet.  
There was no emotion in his face.  
Patton wrapped his arm around Logan’s shoulders, caressing the upper arm with his thumb. He carefully leaned his head against the other teens shoulder.  
“I don’t know what to do anymore.”, Logan whispered.  
“That’s okay.”, Patton replied, just as quietly, “Remember, you’re your own free person now. Your parents or... whoever they are, hold no power over you anymore.”  
“Yo, congrats stilts!”, Remus suddenly joined the couple, taking the seat to Logan’s left, “Not only do you not carry asshole genes, you’re finally free!”  
“That’s... certainly a way to see the situation.”, Patton didn’t even know how to describe Remus’s interpretation.  
“That ended better than expected.”, Diane joined the group. She decided to stay standing, as she was lighting a cigarette.  
“Well, aside from the Austin not being your dad thing. But honestly, that sounds more like a blessing than a curse.”  
“I still have to... carry that- that name.”, Logan referred to his last name.  
“There is a simple solution to that!”, Roman, who plopped next to Remus, cheered.  
“That is?”, Logan raised an eyebrow.  
“Get married!”, Roman suggested, “You’re able to do that now!”  
“As much as I would love to do that, let me graduate college first please.”, Logan countered.  
“Logan Hart would sound much better though.”, Janus, who stood behind the group, chimed in.  
“It sure does.”, Virgil, who stood next to his brother, agreed.  
“Guys, stoooop!”, Patton, face fully red, giggled embarrassed.  
“I can already hear the wedding bells!”, Roman sung.  
“That’s it, you’re not going to be a best man.”, Logan pointed at the twin, joking.  
“Ah!”, Roman got theatrically offended, “Excuse me?”  
“No cake rights for you.”, Remus joked.  
“Hey! You’re the one with the dietary restrictions.”, Roman countered.  
“But I’m not a pussy ass bitch like you.”  
The twins banter made Logan chuckle a little.  
“Hey, that’s mean!”, Patton pouted, “Cake for everyone!”  
“But-“  
“Hey, it’s his wedding, he’s the boss.”, Virgil interrupted Remus.  
“Exactly!”, Patton smiled smugly.  
Logan was glad, that his friends were able to cheer him up and forget about his worries just for a little while.  
While making plans for a wedding with Patton were highly idealistic and dream-esque, it was a lot of fun to talk about it.  
Until that cheery vibe was thrown off by a face Logan didn’t want to see.  
Susan.  
“Aye, fuck off!”, Remus jumped up from his seat and threw himself in the other persons face.  
“Calm down, drag show.”, Susan held up a hand, “I won’t bother you too much.”  
Logan sighed before standing up as well, breaking the side hug with Patton unintentionally.  
“Remus.”, he placed a hand on the other teens shoulder.  
Remus turned his head, giving Logan a concerned look, mouthing “Are you sure?”.  
Logan nodded.  
“Okay...”, Remus shrugged before stepping aside.  
“What do you need, Susan?”, Logan asked his mother in a serious matter.  
“Here.”, he held a note in her hand.  
“What is that?”, Logan eyed the piece of paper.  
Susan sighed annoyed.  
“Your real fathers contact info.”, she elaborated, “He’s been meaning to meet you for a while now.”  
“Oh, he knows of me?”, Logan raised an eyebrow, “You’re usually so secretive about the imperfections about our dysfunctional family.”  
“Well, he’s the guy I had an affair with.”, Susan scoffed, “Take it.”  
She held the note in front of Logan’s face.  
Logan hesitated, but slowly grabbed the piece of paper.  
“A “thank you” would be nice.”, Susan lectured.  
“I will not thank you for anything ever again.”, Logan countered, “Good bye, Susan.”  
Susan huffed, but left the group of teens alone.  
Logan waited for Susan to reach the bottom of the stairs before slowly fidgeting the note open. Patton and Roman had stood up as well in the meantime, the former leaning his head against Logan’s shoulder again.  
“Do you even want to meet him?”, Janus questioned.  
“I... don’t know.”, Logan replied while reading the note, “Who knows what kind of a horrible person he is if he chooses to... copulate with my mother.”  
“Maybe he’s just very horny.”, Remus threw in.  
“Oh my god, stop.”, Roman groaned.  
“Hey, I’m not wrong, am I?”, the messier twin chuckled.  
While the brothers were bantering with each other, Logan and Patton kept on reading the note.  
“Mark Berry.”, Logan thought out loud.  
“Do you know him?”, Patton wondered.  
“I’ve heard of him.”, Logan folded the note again, “But I’ve never met him personally.”  
“Do you... want to meet him?”, Patton asked again, carefully. Maybe Logan changed his mind now that he knew who his real father was. Well, even if it's only the name.  
“Hm.”, Logan contemplated, “Maybe. I need some more time to think.”  
“You know what?”, Patton grabbed his partners hand, “Let’s get our parents and finally celebrate our birthdays!”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Party time with the boi's (D.W. counts as a boi)
> 
> No trigger warnings this time! (That's a first lmao)

To their surprise, Logan and Patton were the last ones to arrive at their own birthday party.  
“There you are!”, Roman, who opened the door for them, greeted, “And, good, you brought cake! Oh my gosh!”, he swooned.  
The friend group had fallen in love with the baked goods Patton provided constantly, so Roman was extra excited about the cake.  
“I didn’t make it this time though, my mom did.”, Patton explained while getting inside, “However, everything I know about baking I know from my mom, so.”  
“Anything you guys bake is heavenly.”, Roman complimented.  
“Thank you!”, Patton cheered, “Speaking of, where can I put the cake?”  
“We left some space on the middle of the dinner table.”, Roman pointed at the table, You can put your other stuff next to the staircase, just like last time. And any gifts you have, you can put those on the coffee table.”  
The two boys did what the twin told them to do. They were equally shocked and surprised at how many gifts were already present.  
“Wow.”, Logan silently exclaimed while putting his gifts for Patton down.  
“Awww, I love the wrapping paper!”, Patton cheered.  
Some presents were wrapped in a simple dark blue striped paper, possibly for Logan.  
Some others had cute colorful bows and wrapping paper decorated with little dogs on a light blue background. Most likely Patton’s presents.  
A bunch were overly decorated with bows and streamers and a bunch of glittery things. They were most likely from Roman and Remus (and Diane, after she gave her $20).  
“Glad you enjoy it.”; Janus, who just left the kitchen with two glasses of lemonade in his hands, smiled, “Virgil and I thought you’d like some cute dogs.”  
“I do!”, Patton jumped excitedly, “But I’ll also feel bad for tearing the paper later...”  
“Here.”, Janus held a glass towards Patton, “That’ll cheer you up.”  
“Got some water for you.”, Virgil, who, almost like a ghost, popped up next to Logan. He jumped a little.  
“Thank you.”, he then took the spare glass out of Virgil’s hand.  
“Did I scare ya?”, Virgil smirked.  
“A little.”, Logan adjusted the collar of his shirt. Usually, it’d be his tie, but he decided to not wear one for this occasion.  
“Good.”, Virgil said sinister, most likely joking.  
“Dude, your octopus is awesome.”, came a girls voice from upstairs.  
Remus most likely showed Diane his pet.  
“I know right?!”, Remus chuckled while walking downstairs, “Oh hey, you guys are finally here, did you get lost in each other’s mouths or what?”  
“Remus!”, Roman scolded.  
“Okay, okay, my bad.”, Remus apologized.  
Remus hopped down the last step, while Diane went down normally.  
“Let’s get this party started then!”, Diane announced.  
After stuffing their faces with cake and other treats, the group moved on to the presents. Logan and Patton had the honor, as Roman put it, to sit on the sofa, while Diane hogged the armchair and the remaining boys sat on the floor around the table.  
“I don’t think I’ve ever received this many gifts.”, Logan grabbed the first box addressed to him, “Even you got a lot more than usual, Pat.”  
“Well, I wanted to make you feel like you’re living a dream.”, Patton admitted shyly.  
“Holy fuck, that sounds like something Dreamprince suggested you to say.”, Remus stuck his tongue out with disgust.  
“Well, of course!”, Roman rolled his eyes, "Weren't you present when I said that?"  
“You really didn’t need to.”, Logan scratched at the tape, “I would have been satisfied with the party alone.”  
“You gotta get spoiled every once in a while.”, Diane smirked.  
Eventually, the two birthday teens made it to the last few presents. Logan made an effort to not rip the paper too much while Patton just went ham.  
“A phone case?”, Logan raised an eyebrow at his second to last gift, “But I don’t own a phone anymore, it’s still in Susan’s possession.”  
“Well.”, Patton grabbed the last box and handed it to Logan, smiling, “Keep going.”  
Logan instantly put two and two together.  
“You got me a new phone as well, didn’t you?”, he asked, “Patton, that’s way too much, I-“  
“Just open it, hehe.”, Patton chuckled.  
“I can’t possibly accept this.”, Logan said while carefully opening the wrapping paper, “I could just talk to Susan to hand me my old phone back.”  
And indeed, once the paper unraveled, it revealed a new smartphone.  
“See it as a new start.”, Patton explained, “Especially now, that you’re emancipated.”  
Logan’s grip around the box tightened a little. A sniffle escaped his nose.  
“Lo?”, Patton placed a hand on his partners shoulder, stroking it with his thumb.  
Logan took off his glasses and wiped his eyes with two fingers, before any more tears had a chance to build up even more.  
“Oh no!”, Patton quickly wrapped his arms around Logan.  
“Group hug time!”, Remus jumped up from the ground and threw himself onto the already hugging teens.  
Roman rushed behind the sofa and gave the small group a hug from there.  
“Yeah, I’ll stay outta this.”, Virgil uttered.  
“Me too.”, Janus agreed. However, he sat close enough to Logan to give him a few pats on the knee.  
Logan eventually lost the battle against the tears. The bonus affection made him chuckle while crying though.  
“Thank- Thank you so much.”, Logan sobbed, “I- I assume it t-took until now for me to realize how happy I am.”  
“Awww!”, Patton planted a kiss on Logan’s forehead.  
“Truly.”, Diane took a sip from her soda, “We’re your family now. I’m the cool aunt.”  
“We already declared Patton the group dad.”, Roman broke the hug.  
“Neato.”, Diane smirked.  
"I guess I just gained a big sister then!", Patton chuckled.

Logan spent roughly an hour to set up his new phone. The first contact he saved was Patton’s.  
Remus immediately snatched the phone and took pictures throughout the day.  
While he distracted everyone with that, Logan took the moment to get away from the group for a bit. He went to the kitchen to get more water.  
Remus noticed the absence right away.  
“Yeah, that’s all for now.”, he turned the phone off, “Imma hand this back to Long Legs.”  
“Hey, could you bring me a lemonade?”, Roman asked.  
“Only if I can spit in it.”, Remus asked sarcastically.  
“Disgusting!”, Roman shook his head to get the nasty thought out.  
“Dude, we have like, exactly the same DNA. There wouldn’t be much difference.”, Remus commented before disappearing in the kitchen.  
“Yo, tall glass of sulk, what’s bugging ya?”, he asked Logan right away.  
Logan turned his head, clearly surprised at Remus’s sudden appearance.  
“Here, your phone.”, Remus handed the device over.  
Logan stared it down.  
“You can take a few more pictures if you want.”, he then told Remus.  
“I think I took enough for now.”, Remus placed the phone on the counter, “Something’s bugging you.”  
“Impossible.”, Logan shook his head, “There are no bugs present.”  
“I will throw a shuriken in your face, my dude.”, Remus threatened, without any means of actually doing it of course, “What’s bothering you?”  
“The note Susan handed me.”, Logan admitted without hesitation, “I am considering contacting Mark.”  
“‘Kay, but why?”, Remus scratched his head, “What if he’s a dick too?”  
“I don’t think-“  
“As funny as him being a literal dick would be, you know exactly what I mean.”  
Logan cleared his throat.  
“I can always block him.”, he pointed out, “I’m just not entirely sure if I can even trust my mothers words. She might me lying again.”  
“She didn’t.”, Remus shook his head.  
“How do you know?”, Logan raised an eyebrow.  
“I’m a human lie detector.”, Remus winked.  
“So, you think she told me the truth?”, Logan asked, to make sure.  
“She had nothing to lose but nothing to gain either.”, the twin shrugged.  
“I... see.”, Logan nodded slowly.  
“How about you forget about that horny sap for today and enjoy your birthday, huh?”

Which Logan did.  
Even if Remus’s way of saying it was rather... potty mouth-ish.  
While Remus and Diane were busy giving Patton a make over, Logan was busy sorting through the pictures Remus took all afternoon. Janus helped him out.  
“Hey, Virgil.”, Roman approached the younger brother.  
Virgil, who had been enjoying another piece of cake, looked up at the twin.  
“What?”, he asked, mouth half full.  
“Uh...”, Roman rubbed his neck nervously, “Maybe, and only if you want, we could play some Kingdom Hearts again? I swear I won’t ask you out on a date this time.”  
“Hm...”, Virgil swallowed his bite. He stared at Roman, contemplating.  
Which, in return, made Roman more and more nervous.  
Virgil then glanced over at Patton, who thoroughly enjoyed the make up session, giggling every now and again when a brush touched his face.  
“You know what.”, Virgil put his attention back to Roman, “Sure, I’m in.”  
“Oh, re-“  
“But-!”, Virgil held up a finger, interrupting Roman, “You have to make it up to me first.”  
“Uhm... heh...”, Roman chuckled uneasily, “What do you mean by that?”  
“Sit down.”, Virgil stood up from his chair, offering the seat to the other boy.  
“Okay...?”, Roman took a seat, highly confused.  
“Yo, Trash Duke.”, Virgil then called out to Remus.  
“Whaddya want?”, Remus replied without losing his focus on Patton’s eyeliner.  
“Can I use your make up?”, Virgil asked.  
“I don’t want your emo bacteria all over my shit though.”, Remus snarked at Virgil.  
“It’s not for me, dumbass.”, Virgil grabbed a brush, “It’s for your brother.”  
“Wait, what?!”, Roman exclaimed in shock.  
Remus stopped applying make up for a second and stared at Virgil with a wide grin.  
“Oh, please, go ahead then!”, he cheered.  
“Virgil, what are you planning to do to my face?”, Roman was about to run away.  
“I just wanna bring some darkness in your bright and sunshine filled face, hehe.”, Virgil chuckled sinister.  
“That’s what I suspected.”, Roman sighed dramatically.  
“It’s only fair.”, Logan suddenly spoke up.  
“Logan!”, Roman complained.  
“What?”, Logan looked up from his phone.  
“Come on, Princey, don’t be a wimp.”, Virgil dipped into the first color of Remus’s palette, “Close your eyes.”  
“Give it all you got, Vee.”, Janus smirked.  
“Hey, can I do your make up afterwards, Dee.”, Remus wondered.  
Janus suppressed an uncomfortable gasp.  
“No, thank you.”, he then denied, “You could ask Logan though.”  
“I wouldn’t mind being made over.”, Logan informed the others, “Patton seems to enjoy it, so I assume it’s quite a fun activity to participate in.”  
“At least you won’t be turned into a human embodiment of the Nightmare before Christmas movie!”, Roman complained while Virgil had been working on his left eyelid.  
“That’s the point.”, the purple haired boy grinned mischievously.

Roughly an hour, and several make overs later, the group moved on to different activities.  
As promised, Virgil and Roman had been playing Kingdom Hearts together.  
Remus and Janus were at the dinner table. Remus had the idea to make Kandi for everyone, so he got his box with the necessary tools. They had a bunch done already. Four hands work faster than two after all.  
Logan, Patton and Diane were in the kitchen, enjoying a coffee, or in Patton’s case, a hot chocolate.  
“May I ask.”, Logan put his attention to the only girl of the group, “How come you’re emancipated?”  
“Oh, that old story.”, Diane took a sip from her coffee, “Basically, when I was a kid, my family moved to Japan. We stayed there for a while, but my dad hated it, so did I. We moved back here without my mom, and shit went downhill from there.”  
“I see...”, Logan nodded.  
“How long have you been emancipated for?”, Patton questioned.  
“Two years-ish.”, Diane shrugged, “I didn’t get alimony though so I had to get a job.”  
“You work in a tattoo shop at the reception, right?”, Logan pointed out, “I remember you told me when I stayed at your place for a night.”  
“I do, yeah.”, Diane took another sip, “I don’t do the tattooing though.", she explained again, for Patton, "I’m responsible for making appointments ‘n’ shit. I also do piercings.”  
Suddenly, the sound of a chair tipping over and fast footsteps approaching came from the living room.  
“You do piercings?!”, Remus must have heard Diane, “Why didn’t you tell me?!”  
“Because a brainiac like you would want me to pierce your whole body in one sitting.”, the goth girl smirked, “I know my customers.”  
“Well, duh!”, Remus groaned, “Of course I want piercings!”  
“Get a signed slip from your parents and then we’ll talk.”, Diane ordered, “Oh, and no piercings from the neck down for you.”  
“What?!”  
“That’s the shop's policy.”  
“Hm.”, Remus pouted, but then shrugged, “At least I could get my tongue and my nose done.”, he muttered while leaving the group alone.  
“Oh boy.”, Diane chuckled.  
“Do you think earrings would suit me?”, Patton asked Diane.  
“Sure, why not.”, Diane took the last big sip from her mug.  
“Yay!”, Patton cheered.  
“Y’all, get in the living room, we got something for ya!”, Remus suddenly yelled.  
Logan and Patton placed their mugs on the counter and went to the living room with Diane.  
Roman and Virgil paused the game and made their way to the dinner table.  
“We made Kandi for you guys!” , Remus held up a few bracelets.  
“You never made me jewelry.”, Roman pointed out.  
“There’s a first for everything.”, Remus shrugged, “Here. It’s shaped like a crown.”  
He handed a yellow-gold Kandi to Roman. It had a bunch of red beads in it too, which were working as gem stones.  
“Thanks!”, Roman smiled at the bracelet the moment he put it on, “It looks marvelous! I didn’t know you could do something like that with plastic beads!”  
“You’d be surprised what ravers can do with Kandi, heh.”, Remus chuckled, “Patton, this one’s yours.”  
A highly colorful and glittery Kandi decorated with light blue flowers.  
“Oh my gosh, I love it!”, Patton stuck his left hand through the bracelet, “Thank you!”  
“This one is Logan’s.”, Remus handed a dark blue and black bracelet over to Logan, “Dee made that one.”  
“I thought you liked it more simple, so I kept it that way.”, Janus explained.  
“Thank you, I appreciate it.”, he said with a small smile while putting it on his wrist.  
“I made one for you too, Virgil.”, Janus held up a purple, black and white Kandi for his brother.  
“Huh, neat, thanks.”, Virgil put it on, making it disappear in his oversized sleeve.  
“And one for D.W.”, Remus dangled the last bracelet in front of Diane, “I tried making it look witchy or whatever.”  
“Sweet!”, Diane inspected her small gift with a smile.  
“Wait, we didn’t do the handshake.”, Janus pointed out.  
“Eh, whatever.”, Remus waved it off, “I didn’t feel like doing that over and over again.”  
“I see...”, Janus nodded slowly.  
The gang quickly returned to their previous activities.  
“Let’s clean shit.”, Remus suggested. He didn’t feel like making any more bracelets.  
Janus silently collected the beads and put them back on the box while Remus rolled up the string.  
“He right back.”, Janus heard Virgil say. The younger brother got up from the sofa and went to the kitchen. Janus didn’t think much of that, until Patton, Logan and Diane left the kitchen and motioned for him and Remus to come upstairs.  
“Be right there.”, Janus mouthed.  
“Hm, what’s going on?”, Remus asked.  
“We wanna see Octo again.”, Diane said. Probably a lie.  
“Ah, why didn’t you say so?”, Remus dropped the string on the table and went upstairs with the group. Must have been a good lie if Remus wasn’t able to see right through it. Or Diane really wanted to see Octo again.  
Janus sighed, but finished cleaning the table. He closed the box and took it with him when he went upstairs as well.  
Luckily, when he arrived upstairs, Remus’s door had been open already.  
“You could have at least finished cleaning the mess, you trash Duke.”, Janus put the box on the desk.  
“Hey, when it comes to my freaky squishy son, I’ll drop everything.”, Remus argued back.  
“I failed to notice.”, Janus said sarcastically, crossing his arms in front of his chest, “And I’m sure, that that’s the only reason we’re upstairs, right?”  
“Nope.”, Diane countered, “Your brother wanted us gone.”  
“Virgil wanted us gone?”, Janus raised an eyebrow.  
“Yeah, he didn’t say why though.”, Patton chimed in.  
“Strange...”, Janus thought to himself, placing a finger on his chin.  
Meanwhile, downstairs, Virgil and Roman continued to play Kingdom Hearts. Roman had been so emerged in the game, that he didn’t even notice the absence of the other party members.  
“Yo. Roman.”, Virgil spoke up, “Could you, like, pause for a second?”  
Roman didn’t hear that. He had been too focused.  
“YO PRINCEY!”, Virgil yelled at the other teen.  
“By the lipstick of William Shakespeare, you don’t have to yell at me!”, Roman jumped in shock.  
“Well, you didn’t react!”, Virgil quickly defended himself, “Can you pause real quick?”  
Roman pressed the pause button on the controller.  
“Do you want to take control or what?”, Roman held the controller towards Virgil.  
“No.”, Virgil pushed the device away from himself, “I just wanna talk I guess.”  
“You do?”, Roman raised an eyebrow.  
“Yeah....”, Virgil sunk in his seat.  
“I don’t want to talk though.”, Roman started the game again.  
“Huh?!”, Virgil shot up, “Why- you-“  
“It’s only fair.”, Roman quoted Logan, “And... I don’t think there’s anything we need to talk about, really.”  
Virgil remained quiet. Mainly due to shock. He thought Roman wanted to clear the air.  
“Are you kidding me?”, he broke his silence, “You desperately wanted to talk to me not too long ago, and now you don’t care?”  
“I do care...”, Roman uttered slightly defeated.  
“You’re just petty.”, Virgil accused.  
Roman gasped, instantly pressing pause again.  
“I am not!”, he said offended.  
“You sure are acting petty right now.”, the emo teen scoffed.  
“I- You-“, Roman stumbled over his words, “Why is it, that, whenever we try to talk normally, it escalates in point two seconds?!”  
“Maybe if you weren’t so petty and egocentric, we wouldn’t have that problem!”, Virgil yelled.  
“Oh, so, now it’s my fault?!”, Roman scoffed, “How about you stop being such a Debbie Downer, huh?”  
“You act like a toddler!”, Virgil shouted back, “It’s impossible to have a normal conversation with you! This isn’t some stupid fantasy world where everything can go according to your plans, Prince!”  
“Do you really think that’s what’s going on in my head?”, Roman got up from his seat, “I’m just trying to be friends with you, but you are just too dense to understand!”  
“Well, maybe I don’t want to be friends with an egocentric bastard like you!”, Virgil mirrored Roman’s movement and got up as well, “I wanted to talk to you because Janus told me to do so, but now, I don’t even wanna do that anymore, because you suck!”  
Roman was so appalled by Virgil’s words, that he stumbled backwards.  
However, the latter didn’t seem remorseful what so ever.  
“Get away from me.”, Roman said, uncharacteristically stoic, “Get out of my sight, Virgil.”  
“Gladly!”, Virgil stormed upstairs, interrupting the peace the other guests had enjoyed.  
Remus, Janus, Patton, Logan and Diane stared at the younger brother confused.  
“I’m joining you guys for a while.”, Virgil grumbled. He then sat down on the ground, leaning against Remus’s bed, on which Remus and Janus had been residing. Diane sat on the desk chair, while Patton and Logan sat on the ground, Logan’s arms wrapped around the smaller teen.  
“Are you okay?”, Patton asked carefully.  
“No.”, Virgil crossed his arms in front of his chest, “Turns out, Remus is the good twin.”  
“Point for me, heh.”, Remus joked. However, he got elbowed by Janus.  
“Okay, I guess not...”, Remus scratched his neck.  
“What happened, Vee?”, Janus asked his brother.  
“Oh, come on, don’t pretend like you didn’t hear the argument we had just now.”, Virgil rolled his eyes.  
“I did, but I didn’t wanna say anything.”, Diane shrugged.  
“What is it with you Kingsleys being so... _insufferable_?”, Virgil ran his hands through his hair frustrated before pulling the hood of his jacket over his head.  
“Hey, now hold up!”, Remus exclaimed angrily, “What the fuck it your damage?”  
“My damage?!”, Virgil turned his head, “Have you looked at yourself?!”  
“Virgil, Remus, that’s enough.”, Janus interfered, “Virgil, calmly, tell me what happened.”  
“Roman and I had an argument.”, Virgil dropped his hood again, “I wanted to hear him out but he didn’t want to talk.”  
“Is he being petty?”, Remus raised an eyebrow.  
“According to him, no.”, Virgil grumbled, “According to me though, yes.”  
“Yeah, nah, he just doesn’t want to admit he’s being petty.”, Remus jumped up from his bed, “Be right back.”  
He dashed out of his room and closed the door behind him.  
Before he made a run for the stairs, he hard sobbing coming from Romans room.  
“Aw fuck.”, Remus muttered.  
He made his way towards Romans room door with heavy feet. He didn’t even bother knocking.  
“Yo.”, he called out to Roman.  
Remus expected his twin to be more dramatic, sobbing like actors did in teen dramas. Laying on the bed face down, hugging the pillow.  
However, Roman sat at his desk, head leaning on his left hand, other arm resting on the table, his tears falling free, ruining the dark make up Virgil did on him.  
“Oh, shit.”, Remus exclaimed quietly while carefully closing the door behind him.  
“L-Leave me alone.”, Roman sobbed, not having the energy to even look at his brother.  
“Nah.”, Remus took the freedom to take a seat on Roman’s desk, “Not when you’re a crying mess like that.”  
“Why do you even care?”, Roman wiped his eyes, “You’re just glad to get along with Janus again.”  
“Let’s not talk about me and Dee right now.”, Remus waved it off, “This is about you. So come on. Talk to your bro.”  
“... I don’t suck, do I?”, Roman asked, his voice almost a whisper.  
“Aside from ass maybe, nah, you don’t.”  
“Very uplifting.”, Roman huffed with his sobs.  
“Look, pleasant metaphors aren’t my strong suit.”, Remus defended himself calmly, “Same with being all cutesy and mushy and eugh. And you know that. But I’m trying. Who told you you sucked?”  
“Isn’t it obvious?”, Roman glared at his twin, eyes filled with tears.  
“It is.”, Remus admitted, “Emoboy has been quite pissy when he stormed into my room and started insulting our entire bloodline.”  
“Great.”, Roman wiped his nose with his sleeve.  
“Ya nasty.”, Remus chuckled.  
“I don’t have tissues anymore.”, Roman mumbled.  
“Let’s get back on track. From what I’ve heard you’ve been pretty petty and that’s why you two had an argument or something.”, Remus quickly recapped what Virgil had told him earlier.  
“I wasn’t petty!”, Roman exclaimed frustrated, “I just wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine!”  
“... That’s literally a perfect metaphor for being petty.”  
“Okay, I was being petty?! Happy now?!”, Roman threw his hands up in the air.  
“As shitty as that sounds, but I think you needed that reality check.”, Remus jumped off the desk, “I mean, Virgin had no right to tell you, that you suck, that’s my job. But maybe you need to come down from your high horse for once and suck up that large ego of yours.”  
Roman looked up at his brother.  
“When did you become so... grown up?”, he asked.  
“Maybe Dee has a good influence on me.”, Remus shrugged.  
“Am I really that narcissistic?”, Roman furrowed his eyebrows.  
“Yeah.”, Remus nodded, “But that’s okay. You just gotta learn how to properly deal with that.”  
Roman slowly but surely came down from his breakdown. His breathing stabilized and the tears stopped from rolling down his cheeks.  
“Oh, for crying out loud.”, he exhaled deeply, “It seems like I have been in the wrong this time around.”  
“Hey, I’m not the one you’re supposed to be telling this.”, Remus said, while leaving the room. Leaving his twin confused.  
A few moments, and some resisting yelling later, Remus came back, carrying a wiggling Virgil inside Roman’s room.  
“Let go of me, you freak!”, Virgil punched Remus’s arms.  
“Your wish is my command.”, Remus dropped Virgil, the latter barely being able to keep the balance when he landed on his feet.  
“Now talk.”, Remus said before leaving and quickly shutting the door behind him.  
“Yeah, no, I’m done for toda-“, as Virgil was about to leave as well, he heard small clicking noises from the lock.  
“Are you locking us in?!”, he concluded, “Are you insane?!”  
“Imma free you when you two made amends.”, Remus yelled from the other side of the door, “I’ll be back in an hour.”  
“An hour?!”, Virgil screamed, “Oh no! Let me out!”  
He banged against the door with both fists for a solid two minutes before giving up. He leaned against the door and slid down.  
Once his butt hit the floor, he glanced at Roman, who avoided any and all eye contact with the smaller teen.  
“Hey, can you get me outta here?”, Virgil asked.  
“No.”, Roman uttered, “Don’t have the keys.”  
“How did he lock us in then?”, Virgil raised an eyebrow, “Can he pick a lock?”  
Roman nodded.  
“Of course he can.”, Virgil thought to himself.  
It was painfully quiet for the next five minutes to follow.  
Well, it would have been quiet, but Romans sniffles broke it constantly.  
Eventually, Virgil couldn’t handle that.  
Roman’s clearly hurt. Virgil cleared his throat.  
“Maybe...”, he scratched his neck, “... I shouldn’t have insulted you.”  
Roman reacted with a small tilt to the side, enough for Virgil to know that the other boy had been listening.  
“Maybe I...”, Roman sighed defeated, “... shouldn’t have been so petty.”, he admitted, “I’m sorry.”, Roman sat up straight, fully turning towards Virgil, “I really am.”  
“So am I, I guess.”, Virgil noticed nervousness rising in his chest, forcing his eyes to dart anywhere but the twin.  
“Would you still like to talk?”, Roman offered.  
“It’s up to you.”, Virgil told Roman, “You were the one who originally wanted to talk.”  
“I suppose you’re right on that.”, Roman sunk a little in his posture, contemplating.  
A let out a small sigh.  
“I’m not really sure if I can find the right words.”, he uttered, “It’s just that- I never had problems with making friends. I see myself as rather charismatic, you know?”  
“Failed to notice.”, Virgil said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.  
“You were actually a first.”, Roman continued his side of things, ignoring Virgil’s little comment for now, “As in, my first failure to make a new friend. It seemed so simple at my old school. Maybe too simple...”  
“Well, I’m not a simple person.”, Virgil huffed, “Plus an extrovert like you and an introvert like me? I feel like that’s just bound to fail.”  
“Logan and Patton make it work for them.”, Roman gestured towards his door, clearly metaphorically referring to the room on the other side, “So, why wouldn’t we? They’re even -AHEM!”, Roman interrupted himself with a cough.  
“Dating?”, Virgil filled in the blank himself.  
“Y-yeah.”, Roman sheepishly scratched his neck, “But I didn’t want to mention that for... obvious reasons.”  
“Why do you even wanna be friends with me?”, Virgil wondered, “You said yourself I’m too edgy for your taste.”  
“I did say that, yes.”, Roman nodded, “But that was before we actually spent some time together. I strangely enjoyed your presence. That’s also why I felt really, really, bad for a good while after we had that first conflict.”  
“You? Enjoyed my presence?”, Virgil questioned surprised and confused, “That’s a new. I wasn’t even trying to be enjoyable.”  
“But why?”, Roman asked carefully, “You and Janus seem to be kind of the same when it comes to that sort of thing.”  
“We’re just cautious.”, Virgil pulled his knees close to his chest, “Despite that, Janus still took chances, which ended badly for the most part. I never even bothered to try.”  
“And yet, you’re here.”, Roman pointed out.  
“Yeah, because your confetti filled brain-brother locked me in here.”, the purple haired teen complained in a monotone voice.  
“That’s not what I meant.”, Roman shook his head, “I meant you’re here, at this party.”  
“Oh, hm...”, Virgil had never really thought about that. He mainly tagged along with Janus, like he usually would.  
Virgil remained quiet for a little moment. Which made Roman nervous.  
“H-hey, if you still don’t want to be friends, that’s... fine.... I guess.”, he admitted, “I’d be crushed but I also don’t want to force you to be my friend.”  
“You didn’t even listen to my side of things, Prince Brainless.”, Virgil jokingly insulted the other.  
“My bad.”, Roman didn’t even bother about the insult, “Please, go ahead.”  
“You overwhelm me. A lot.”, Virgil started, “So does your brother. But at least you seem to have a filter unlike Duke Brainrot. Both of you are such large characters, that it gets too much sometimes. But you can be pretty chill and I...”, Virgil sunk in his posture, “I guess I enjoy that side of yours....”  
“You do?”, Roman asked with a hint of hope in his voice.  
“Yeah.”, Virgil confirmed once more, “You’re still too much, but I guess I can learn how to handle that.”  
“I’m glad to hear that.”, Roman scratched his scalp, “Does.. that mean we’re okay with each other now?”  
“I think so?”, Virgil answered unsure, “I don’t really hold any grudges anymore. You’re clearly sorry for the things you did.”  
“So are you.”, Roman smiled lightly.  
“Hm...”, Virgil looked aside, shyly, “Whatever.”  
Roman let out a chuckle.  
The room fell quiet once again.  
“I guess I’ll be stuck in here for a little longer.”, Virgil pointed out, breaking the silence, “Remus won’t let me out anytime soon.”  
“I’m stuck here too, you know?”, Roman got up from his chair and offered Virgil a hand, “Like I said, I don’t have a key.”  
The emo teen grabbed the hand and with Roman’s help got up from the ground.  
Just now, Virgil noticed the mess on Roman’s face.  
“Dude, you ruined the make up I did on you.”, he jokingly scolded the taller boy.  
“Feel free to refresh it then.”, Roman suggested, with a slight tease, “I should have enough make up for your eccentric style.”  
“You call my style eccentric?”, Virgil raised an eyebrow, “Have you seen yourself?”  
“I have, and I’m stunning.”, Roman seemed to have been back to his normal self within seconds.  
“Not right now you are.”, Virgil made his way past Roman and took a seat on his bed, “Right now you’re a mess.”  
Roman wanted to reply with “Oh, so you think I’m usually stunning?”, however, he knew that that would instantly make the situation worse again.  
So he set on something else to say.  
“I sure am.”, he agreed, “Time to fix my face.”  
“They’re awfully quiet.”, Diane pointed out. Her and the remaining party guests were still in Remus’s room.  
“Well, either they made up, are making out or they’ve killed each other.”, Remus shrugged.  
“Should we check?”, Diane suggested.  
“The hour isn’t over yet.”, the twin denied.  
“I’m sorry, that that had to happen on your birthdays.”, Janus apologized to Patton and Logan.  
“You don’t need to apologize.”, Patton waved it off, “I personally still had a great birthday.”  
“Likewise.”, Logan nodded, “Our birthday related social gathering managed to cheer me up from what had happened earlier today.”  
“I see that as a success!”, Remus smiled widely.  
“Truly.”, Janus agreed, with a slight nod.  
“Hey, how about we kick each other’s asses in Wii Party?”, Remus then suddenly suggested.  
“But isn’t the limit for Wii Party four people?”, Patton wondered.  
“We’re one too many.”, Logan added, adjusting his glasses, “And if Roman and Virgil happened to join, we’ll be three too many.”  
“Thanks for the basic math, Teach.”, Remus mocked in a lighthearted manner, “We can build teams.”  
“Ah.”, Logan nodded understandingly, “That would be an adequate solution.”  
“Then let’s go!”, Remus jumped up from his bed and ran towards the open door.  
“Well, someone has to make sure he won’t forget about our brothers.”, Janus thought out loud.  
“I’ve set a timer, no need to worry.”, Logan informed, holding up his phone. The display showed that Virgil and Roman had roughly 27 minutes left.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The "getting locked in a room" saga continues. See it as "Trapped in a twins bedroom - electric boogaloo".
> 
> Trigger warnings: idk how to really tag this one but Remus questions if he did drugs again (which he didn't so ye)

And once the timer got off, Logan forced Remus away from the console to get upstairs and open Roman’s room door.  
“But we’re winning right now!”, Remus groaned annoyed. Him and Janus had teamed up, so did Logan and Patton.  
Diane was fine with staying by herself.  
“Then let Janus take over.”, Logan suggested.  
“I would actually very much appreciate that.”, Janus held out a hand, waiting for his teammate to hand over the remote.  
“Fine.”, Remus whined, loosening the strap, Patton insisted everyone wore it, “Here.”, he dropped the remote in Janus’s hand, “But don’t you dare lose now.”  
“Oh, because losing is so much fun, that I want to do that on purpose.”, Janus rolled his eyes with a smirk while putting the strap around his wrist.  
“Let’s free the Beauty and the Emo.”, Remus jumped off the sofa and walking towards the stairs with heavy feet. He purposely took his time.  
“You complimented your brother?”, Diane pointed out in form of a question.  
“Well, him and I have the same face.”, Remus explained, “Although, I have the better taste in fashion, heh.”  
Remus wandered upstairs, getting the hairpins he uses to pick locks from his pants pocket.  
When he made it to the door, he knocked loudly.  
“Yo, can I free you or do you need more private time?”, he yelled.  
“Just unlock the door already!”, Roman shouted back.  
Despite the volume he used, Roman sounded rather laid back and amused.  
“On it!”, Remus kneeled down and started picking. It only took him a few seconds until the lock clicked.  
He put the hairpins pack in his pocket and swung the door open.  
“You’re free!”, he cheered, hands lifted up high.  
“Thank fuck, I really need to pee.”, Virgil removed he earbud from his right ear, jumped up from Roman’s bed and made a dash for the bathroom.  
Prior to that, him and Roman sat on said bed, laptop placed in front of them.  
“What’cha watchin’?”, Remus asked with a smirk. Roman instantly knew the indication behind that.  
“Not what you think we watched.”, Roman instantly debunked, “Virgil showed me some videos about Disney conspiracy theories.”  
“You also look like less of a mess.”, Remus pointed out, “Did the little sad boy fix you up?”  
“Indeed, he did.”, Roman puffed his chest out, “And I look absolutely marvelous! I grew to like the dark approach.”  
“That sounds pretty gay.”  
“Well, duh.”  
The twins chuckled. It quickly died down though.  
“You guys wanna join our little gaming session downstairs?”, Remus leaned against the doorframe, “We still have one more remote left for a team of two.”  
“Team?”, Roman raised an eyebrow, confused.  
“Wii Party doesn’t allow seven people, dude.”, Remus rolled his eyes.  
“What are the teams?”, Roman asked while closing the laptop and removing the earbud he had in.  
“Duke Snake, which is the best team, objectively,-“  
“You’re full of crap.”  
“Thanks for noticing!”, Remus laughed, “Anyway, then there’s team Heart and Mind, and the Dragon Witch.”  
“I... assume the last one is Diane?”, Roman questioned with a smile.  
“Yup.”, Remus confirmed.  
“What are you talking about?”, Virgil had made a return. Even his usual make up has been changed up a little. Roman must have gotten a chance to alter his looks as well.  
“Aren’t you a sparkly nightmare, huh?”, Remus teased.  
“Shut it, Duke Smells-a-lot.”, Virgil grumbled.  
“Remus offered us to play Wii Party with the others.”, Roman filled in, “We’d be a team though.”  
Virgil glanced back and forth between the twins.  
“I mean, if I get the chance to virtually kick his butt, then sure.”, he then shrugged.  
“You’d be kicking your brothers ass too, just so you know.”, Remus pointed a finger gun at the older teen.  
“Why am I not surprised that you teamed up with Janus.”, Virgil shook his head, “But I’m up for it. I still want to destroy you. Come on, Ro. We’re team Nightmare Prince.”  
“Ooohohohoho!”, Roman exclaimed excited as he shot up from his bed and followed the other two downstairs.

The losing team ended up being Remus and Janus. Mainly because Virgil had been insistent on beating them, completely ignoring the fact that most games worked with randomized chances.  
Somehow, luck must have been on their side as well.  
Not too much tough, they were only second place.  
“Well, at least I’m not last, heh.”, Diane, who ended up being second to last, chuckled, as she placed the remote on the table, “I’m shook that these two beat us to it.”, she pointed a thumb at the birthday boys.  
“It’s absolutely unbelievable, right?!”, Roman exclaimed, “Logan beat us before in Mario Kart!”  
“All I did, was use simple logic when it came to assembling my car.”, Logan pushed his glasses up.  
“You can’t tell me you used logic again to beat us.”, Roman questioned.  
“I did.”  
“Dang nab it.”  
“Wow, throwing out those big bad words, aren’t we, little bro?”, Remus teased in a defeated tone.  
“You’re the little bro!”, Roman argued back, “The only big thing you are is a big loser.”  
“That deserves a punishment, not gonna lie.”, Virgil leaned back against the side of the armchair Roman sat on.  
“You wanna tie us up or somethin’?”, Remus asked.  
“Nah, you’d probably like that.”, Virgil waved it off.  
“Virgil, I didn’t know you had such malice in you.”, Janus pretended to be shocked.  
“Considering, you two are the winners-“, Roman put his attention to Patton and Logan, “-you can pick a punishment.”  
“Oh, you really want to do this.”, Logan noted.  
“Noooo!”, Patton whined, “That’s mean! No punishment!”  
“It’s fine, Sprinkles.”, Remus calmed the smallest of the bunch down, “I don’t really care. I lost fair and square.”  
“Can I make a suggestion?”, Roman held a finger up.  
“Hmmmm.”, Patton sunk in Logan’s arms, still not liking the idea of a punishment.  
“Go ahead.”, Logan gave the okay while hugging his boyfriend a bit tighter.  
“Earlier today, I was told, I’m a pretty petty person sometimes.”, Roman explained, “Let me put that to good use.”

And that’s how Remus and Janus found themselves locked in Remus’s room for the next hour.  
However, considering Remus had been the only one with lock picking abilities, Roman decided to use a chair to keep the handle up from the outside.  
Janus decided to check out Octo again, while Remus laid on the ground.  
“You know, you have a perfectly good bed next to you, right?”, Janus said without breaking eye contact with the underwater creature.  
“Yeah.”, Remus groaned, “I don’t wanna lay in there now though.”  
With a huff, the twin sat up, legs remaining stretched on the ground.  
“Hey, now that we have an hour to kill, can I do your make up by any chance?”, he tried again to get Janus to join a make over.  
“...”, Janus sighed, “I don’t like make up.”  
“For obvious reasons, I assume?”, Remus leaned back a little, using his arms to keep him up.  
Janus straightened his posture. He crossed his arms in front of his stomach.  
“It’s not... dysphoria-related. Quite frankly, I see make up as genderless, as it just is paint you can easily remove.”  
Janus then slowly let a hand wander up to his birthmark ridden cheek, touching it with featherlight fingertips.  
Remus’s eyes grew wide at he realized why Janus did that.  
“Dee, no, I-“, he quickly got up from the ground to comfort the taller teen, “I didn’t mean to-“  
“I’ve been told my entire life to cover my birthmark with make up.”, Janus confessed, “People called me ugly and disgusting for refusing to use foundation.”  
As if it had been instinct, Remus slowly wrapped his arms around Janus’s waist, leaning his head sideways against the taller teens shoulder blades.  
“You’re fucking stunning.”, the twin mumbled, “I would never cover something so attractive in my life.”  
A blush crept up Janus’s face.  
“Re-“  
“Also, I don’t even have foundation.”  
Remus’s bluntness made Janus chuckle a little.  
“Thank you, Remus”, Janus dropped his arm, to give Remus’s arm a soft stroke, “Maybe I’ll let you paint my face some other time. I’m not really in the mood right now.”  
“I’ll take that.”, Remus smiled, nuzzling further into Janus’s back.  
The blond boy hoped Remus wouldn’t notice his heart rate quicken.

_Wait no._   
_This-_   
_This is not-_   
_This is not a crush._   
_Totally not._   
_No._

Janus started to panic.  
He tried to hide his panic as best as he could.  
Sweat built up on his forehead, his hands started to shiver.  
His body warned to run, mainly because he didn’t want Remus to notice.  
But the hug, god, the hug. It felt so... nice. Warm. Like home.  
Janus, as quietly as possible, slowly and deeply inhaled through his nose, in an attempt to calm down.  
He wondered what Remus looked like right now.  
His face all squished up against his back.  
The shirt Janus wore probably had some make up stains now. But that didn’t matter, that could be washed.  
It was odd for Remus to be so quiet and soft. Usually, in the time that has passed by now, the messy teen would have dropped at least two or three weird thoughts.  
It worried Janus.  
“Are you okay?”, he asked, breaking the silence.  
“Yeah.”, came bluntly from Remus, “Why yer askin’?”  
“You’re uncharacteristically quiet.”, Janus explained.  
“I don’t wanna ruin this for once in my damn life.”, Remus said nonchalantly.  
Janus let out a other chuckle.  
“I assume you want to stay like this until we’re getting out.”, Janus joked, but secretly hoped for Remus to break the hug, mainly to ease the nervousness.  
“If I could I would, but this would get awkward pretty soon.”, with that, Remus let go of the older boy.  
“So, what are we gonna do now?”, the twin asked.  
“Hm.”, Janus contemplated for a second, “More Kandi?”  
“Not in the mood.”  
“Maybe practice our lines?”  
“Eh.”  
“Then you make a suggestion.”, Janus finally turned around, facing Remus.  
Mistake.  
The only light source present in the room had been the blueish light from the octopus tank.  
The way the blue tone fell onto Remus’s face made Janus even more panicky.  
“Uh-“, he uttered, “I-“  
“You good?”, Remus instantly caught onto Janus’s nervousness.  
The blond boy gulped.  
“Y-yes.”, he stuttered.  
“I take that as a no.”, Remus smirked, “Remember, I’m a human lie detector.”  
Janus had nowhere to go. He desperately wanted to leave the room.

**_Calm down._ **   
_Well, easier said than done._   
**_Has Remus always been that handsome?_ **   
**_Maybe it’s the make up._ **   
_He always wears make up._

“Dee?”, Remus grew worried, “Now you’re the one behaving uncharacteristically.”  
“It’s- it’s fine.”, Janus lied, “Just-“  
“Was the hug too much?”, Remus asked, “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, even if that’s my specialty.”  
“It’s not- it’s not that kind of discomfort.”, that hadn’t even been a lie, he didn’t even know what he had been uncomfortable about.  
Or he had been denying the real reason.  
“We don’t need to talk if you don’t want to.”, Remus tired real hard to not mess up in the slightest, and Janus appreciated the effort a little too much.  
Remus’s softer side made Janus weak.  
“I... can’t tell you what it is right now.”, Janus decided to say, “Quite frankly, I don’t know what it is. But I would ask you to give me some room to breathe, please.”  
Remus stared at Janus with a puzzling look until he nodded understandingly. He then grabbed his office chair and rolled it towards Janus.  
“You can stare at Octo for a little while.”, he offered, “It usually calms me a lot. Take a seat.”  
“Thank you.”, Janus did what Remus told him to do, and scooted a little closer to the tank, to see the pet better.  
He then secretly got his phone form his back pocket and texted Virgil, while Remus basically slammed onto his bed, starling Janus a little.  
“How is your bed still alive?”, Janus asked.  
“Metal, baby!”, Remus replied in a semi-deep but cheerful voice.

SnakeDad: Please tell me you have time to text right now  
Stormcloud: I do  
Stormcloud: What’s up?  
SnakeDad: I have reason to believe that you may be right with your assumption  
Stormcloud: you gotta go in more detail, which assumption?  
SnakeDad: About me  
SnakeDad: And  
SnakeDad: Well  
Stormcloud: cut to the chase, my dude  
SnakeDad: How I feel about Remus  
Stormcloud: Congrats, you’re the last one to realize that  
Stormcloud: well, actually, knowing you, you’ve just been denying all of that, didn’t you  
SnakeDad: Perhaps  
Stormcloud: I’m baffled that someone like you would fall for someone like Remus  
Stormcloud: but that just means there just be some quality to that mess of a teen that I fail to see  
SnakeDad: He called me attractive. Stunning, even.  
Stormcloud: you act as if his first words to you haven’t been “You’re hot.”  
SnakeDad: you don’t understand.  
SnakeDad: There was sincerity behind those words this time.  
SnakeDad: and he hugged me!  
SnakeDad: what am I typing, I sound like a prepubescent little kid who has fallen in love for the first time  
Stormcloud: man he really got you good  
SnakeDad: what should I do?  
Stormcloud: You’re asking me what you should do? I’m the last person you should go to regarding advice  
SnakeDad: Who else am I supposed to ask? Roman? I don’t think so  
Stormcloud: You got a point there  
Stormcloud: I mean knowing Remus he’d probably be excited to know you feel the same way  
SnakeDad: but I don’t want to rush into things, maybe that’s why I’m lying to myself  
Stormcloud: could also be your past experiences still haunting you  
SnakeDad: but I know for a fact that Remus is different. He truly respects me.  
Stormcloud: then I don’t see anything that should get in your way  
Stormcloud: be honest to him  
SnakeDad: ironic  
Stormcloud: just do it  
Stormcloud: for once I don’t think it’ll end badly  
SnakeDad: very encouraging  
SnakeDad: but thank you nonetheless

Janus sighed.  
“Remus.”, he spoke up in a stern voice.  
“Whaddup?”, came from the bed.  
“I have to talk to you.”, Janus spun around on the chair.  
“Damn, that sounds serious.”, Remus sat up and crawled to the legend of the bed, leaning his head and arms onto the board.  
His expression was laid back with a hint of horror.  
Janus took another deep breath through his nose.  
“You drive me crazy.”, he dropped. Not exactly the wording he wanted to use, but it was too late to take it back now.  
“In a good or a bad way?”, Remus tilted his head confused.  
“Good way.”  
“Thank fuck.”, Remus exhaled relieved, until he realized what Janus had said, “Wait, whaddya mean by that?”  
“That...”, Janus swallowed the figurative lump in his throat, “That I like you.”  
Remus blinked a few times.  
“Sorry, I think I blanked for a second.”, he shook his head, “Did you just say you like me?”  
“I did.”, Janus confirmed, not fully believing himself that he just did that.  
Which rendered Remus totally and utterly speechless.  
“I didn’t do coke in the bathroom again, did I?”, he broke his silence.  
“No, you did not.”  
“So I’m not hallucinating, that’s good.”, Remus inhaled before letting out an ecstatic squeal.  
“Who would have thought I would get this lucky for once?!”, he fell back on his bed, hands messily running through his hair, “Usually Roman’s the one with the luck, haha, how the tables have turned!”  
“I know you’re excited, but I have to burst your bubble for a second.”, Janus interfered. He got up from his chair and made his way to the other teen, taking a seat next to him.  
“What, why?”, Remus wondered surprised. He dropped his arms beside him, letting the left one dangle from the bed.  
“I-“, as Janus was trying to explain himself, he couldn’t help but stare at Remus’s face, analyzing the features. He couldn’t pick if he wanted to focus on the two differently colored eyes, that were staring at him with anticipation. Or the lightly puckered lips that were coated in dark purple lipstick.  
“I-“, Janus tried again, “I _definitely don’t_ want to kiss you right now.”  
That’s not how he wanted to finish that sentence.  
“Do it.”, Remus smirked mischievously.  
Janus, even if it was just for a brief second, contemplated to lean down.  
But then he remembered what je had been meaning to address.  
“No, hold up.”, he turned away form Remus, “That’s exactly not what I want to do.”  
“Hm, sad.”, Remus shrugged. He didn’t seem all too bothered, which surprised Janus.  
“The thing is, I don’t think I’m capable of being in something more... serious right now.”, Janus finally got his point out, “I want to take my time.”  
“That’s fine by me.”, Remus said understandingly.  
“It is?”, Janus turned back, facing Remus again.  
“Yeah.”, Remus sat up, leaning onto his hands, “Why shouldn’t it be?”  
“Considering your feelings towards me...?”, Janus noted.  
“Hey, you’re not just some random flick I get a quick fucking out of, y’know?”, the twin explained softly, which didn’t really match the words that came out of his mouth, “I wanna take my time too. But that won’t stop me from getting more flirty.”  
“That’s what I expected.”, Janus chuckled, “I assume some flirting would be adequate now.”  
“You’re a dork.”, Remus said while tucking his arms under his head, “A sexy dork.”  
Janus rolled his eyes, amused.  
“Thanks.”, he laughed.  
“How about another date?”, Remus suggested.  
“I wouldn’t be appalled to that.”, Janus smiled, “You plan it this time though.”  
“Be ready for a mess then, hehe.”  
“I wouldn’t expect anything else.”

When Roman went upstairs to free his brother, and his company, he didn’t expect to hear giddy chuckle coming from the room.  
Just to be safe, Roman knocked, checking in.  
“The hour is over, can I free you two?”, he asked.  
“If you’re brave enough.”, Remus replied in a cryptic manner.  
Roman rolled his eyes amused. He removed the chair and opened the door slightly.  
“You’re free to go!”, he announced.  
“Lit.”, Remus replied, focused on Janus’s hand.  
Him and the guest sat on the floor, Remus delicately paining the other teens nails.  
“You’re having a manicure?”, Roman exclaimed appalled, “Without me?”  
“Well, you weren’t locked inside this room when we started.”, Janus sarcastically snarked.  
“Also don’t complain, you got an entire ass make over 2.0 done when you were locked away with Virge.”, Remus pointed out.  
“Fair.”, Roman shrugged, “You’re going to join us again?”  
“When we’re done.”

The remainder of the sleepover went by smoothly.  
When Janus and Remus went back downstairs, they gave each and everyone a manicure.  
Eventually, everyone became less energetic and more tired.  
Just like last time, the gang ended on watching a movie and drifting off during it.  
The next morning, Logan was the first one to wake up.  
Mainly because of pain.  
His rib had healed for the most part, but it still hurt every now and again, if Logan overdid it. Or, in this case, if he hadn’t been in a proper sleeping position.  
He had to get up. Desperately.  
However, someone had been stopping him from doing so.  
Much like last time, Patton fell asleep in Logan’s arms.  
“Patton, I hate to do this, but I need to get up.”, he carefully stroked Patton’s cheek, “Please get up.”  
Maybe Logan should use a more direct and less caring approach. Instead of waking up, Patton nuzzled against the hand and snuggled closer to Logan’s body.  
That’s the opposite of what the taller teen wanted.  
Despite his initial plan, Logan didn’t mind Patton’s unintentional affection. The nerd couldn’t take his eyes off of the cute face.  
He felt a blush creeping up his face.  
He decided to give up for now and lean his head onto the smaller teens head.  
But eventually, the pain would grow bigger.  
“Gosh...”, Logan breathed.  
He couldn’t even push Patton off of him. He didn’t possess the physical power to do so.  
He checked the spot next to him. Janus and Remus had been occupying that space. Just now, Logan realized that Remus also restricted his freedom. The twins head laid on Janus’s lap while his legs were stretched out across Logan’s and Patton’s.  
“Great.”, Logan kept looking around.  
Dianne and Virgil laid on the floor, the former took the freedom to snag Logan’s star pillow.  
Virgil somehow got a pillow from the sofa.  
Roman laid on the armchair again, much like last time.  
Maybe Logan could wake Remus.  
Remus was a surprise bag when it came to sleep. Sometimes, he had the heaviest and deepest sleep in the world, on other days, the sound of a pin dropping to the floor would wake him instantly.  
Hopefully, this time Remus’s sleep would lean towards the latter.  
“Remus.”, Logan whispered while shaking Remus’s ankle.  
“Hgn-“, luckily, Logan’s plan worked. Remus yawned and stretched his body like a cat, all four limbs going different directions.  
“Mornin’ nerd.”, Remus greeted tiredly, eyes slowly fluttering open, “Whaddya need?”  
“Could you perhaps get up?”, Logan asked, “And also help me with Patton?”  
“Sure.”, Remus didn’t question Logan’s request and further. He dropped his legs and quickly got up.  
“... what exactly do you want me to do?”, Remus then questioned.  
“Get Patton off of me.”, Logan explained, “My rib hurts again, and I wish to get up to get a painkiller.”  
“Ah.”, Remus nodded, “Makes sense. Gimme a second.”  
Remus grabbed Patton’s hands, guiding them past his shoulders, making Patton unconsciously hug the twin. Remus then wrapped his arms around the smaller teen and lifted him off of Logan.  
Patton let out a muffled groan, but that quickly subsided.  
Logan tried to make it off the sofa as quick as possible. Once the seat was empty again, Remus put Patton back down, the latter instantly snuggling against the warm cushions of the sofa.  
Logan made his way to his bag, to get the medicine he needed.  
“I could take my meds too now that I’m up.”, Remus thought out loud, “.... Too bad that I don’t know where they are.”  
Logan, who had been rummaging in his bag, stopped for a second.  
“Is your family hiding your medication from you?”, Logan wondered.  
“They’re scared I might overdose.”, Remus shrugged, “But then again, I hate taking those things. There’s a bigger chance of me not taking enough, heh.”  
“Maybe you should wake Roman then.”, Logan suggested, “He seems to know where they are.”  
“That’s why you’re the smart one in the group.”, Remus chuckled while making his way to the armchair his brother had been laying in.  
“Hmm.”, Remus contemplated. He probably thought about how to wake Roman the best way.  
Or in Remus’s case, the nastiest way.  
“Haven’t done that in a while.”, Remus grinned.  
He took his left index finger and stuck it in his mouth.  
“Remus, what are you-“, Logan wanted to ask what the twins plan was, however his half-unspoken question was answered rather quickly, as the saliva coated finger made it inside of Roman’s ear.  
“EW!”, Roman’s eyes shot up instantly, his hand slapping away Remus’s, “Remus!”, he instantly scolded his twin while trying to wipe away the liquid from his ear.  
Remus, on the other hand, was laughing amused.  
“You pig!”, Roman threw against his brothers head, “Why?!”  
“I- hahah, wait-“, Remus wanted to explain himself, but he needed to wait for his laughter to die down.  
A few moments, and a deep breath later, Remus was collected enough.  
“Whew, that was fun!”, he grinned.  
“For you, you nasty.”, Roman grumbled, “So?”  
“Oh, yeah, I need my meds.”, Remus explained.  
“And that’s why you gave me a wet Willy?”, Roman got up from his seat.  
“Nah, that was just for my own amusement.”, Remus winked.  
Roman sighed, but then chuckled.  
“I’ll get back at you.”, he told his brother as he walked by him to get to the kitchen.  
“Can’t wait!”, Remus sung sarcastically.  
With his back turned towards the kitchen, Remus waited for Roman to bring him his medication.  
In the meantime, Logan made it to the kitchen as well, to get a glass of water.  
“How are you doing, Microsoft Nerd?”, Roman asked with a tired smile as he filled a cup up with water from a Brita filter.  
“Aside from my pain ridden rib, I fell quite fine.”, Logan confirmed.  
“I’m glad.”, Roman handed the water over to Logan, “There you go.”  
“Thank you.”, Logan gave the twin a nod as he took the cup. He then put the painkiller in his mouth and swallowed it with big gulps of water.  
“Gotta give the gremlin his meds now.”, with a different cup and a bunch of pills in his hand, Roman left the kitchen.  
Logan sighed. He placed the cup on the counter and got his phone from his back pants pocket. He removed the space themed case halfway and retrieved a note. With a snap, the case went back on the phone.  
He then stared at the folded piece of paper.  
A few moments later, Roman came back, with Remus in his tow.  
“Whatcha got there, teach?”, Remus instantly noticed the note Logan was holding.  
“My mothers note.”, Logan explained, “I’m not sure if I can let that topic rest for too long.”  
“To be honest, that Mark dude can’t have a good taste if he slept with your mom.”, Remus said with slight disgust, "So he most likely had been very horny."  
“However, he could be a better person than Austin.”, Roman chimed in, holding up a finger.  
“Well, that’s not that hard.”, Remus rolled his eyes.  
“If Susan didn’t lie to me, Mark actually wants to meet me.”, Logan reminded the twins.  
“Oh, true!”, Remus remembered, “She did say that. And it seemed pretty honest.”  
“But if he wanted to meet you so badly, why didn’t he do so much sooner?”, Roman questioned.  
“My assumption is, is that my mother didn’t allow Mark to do so. If anything, I’m sure they never wanted me to know in the first place, that Austin wasn’t my real father.”, Logan exhaled deeply, letting his shoulders slump a little, “I’m sure they never expected this entire... ordeal to reach that high point it did.”  
“I’m pretty sure it would piss her off if you met Markimoo and got along with him perfectly, heh.”, Remus chuckled.  
“I shouldn’t be doing this out of spite.”, Logan countered, “That would be unfair towards Mark.”  
“Then I don’t see what else would be stopping you from contacting him.”, Roman smiled at Logan, in an attempt to encourage him.  
“I suppose you’re right.”, Logan looked down on his phone screen and bit his lip nervously.  
“Remember, you can still block his ass if you change your mind.”, Remus pointed out, “Or absolutely destroy that phone and try to burn it on the furnace.”  
“Remus, as much as I appreciate the advice, I do not wish to destroy the phone my boyfriend has gifted to me not even 24 hours ago.”, Logan glanced up at the twin.  
“Just saying, there’s always plan B and C.”, Remus winked.  
“... I suppose so.”, Logan looked back down on his phone again.  
He took a deep breath.  
“Well, here goes nothing.”, he muttered before unlocking the phone and opening the messenger app.  
However, he was drawing a blank.  
“What am I supposed to type?”, he asked the twins.  
“Hey, you fucked my mom and made me!”, Remus suggested.  
“He’s already aware of that.”  
“Greetings, Mark, it is I, your long lost son!”, Roman then suggested.  
“Preposterous.”, Logan commented, “Also I am not lost, I just never had any contact with him.”  
“I mean, I guess, just introduce yourself or whatever, if you wanna go the boring route.”, Remus shrugged.  
Logan contemplated for a moment, leaving the brothers waiting with anticipation.  
Eventually, the tall teens thumbs glided over the screen, typing a message.

Logan: Hello.  
Logan: This is Logan Croft.  
Logan: Susan Crofts son, and, well, yours too. If she didn’t fabricate a falsehood that is of course.  
Logan: If that is the case I would deeply apologize and you can ignore the texts.  
Logan: I am unaware, if you know about my mothers current situation, but to keep things short for now, I have been informed that Austin isn’t my biological father.  
Logan: Susan made an effort to hand me your mobile phone number, as is seems you have interest in meeting me.  
Logan: Again, if Susan was telling the truth of course.  
Logan: Best regards, Logan.

“Are you typing a novel or what?”, Remus raised an eyebrow.  
“I am simply trying to cover as much as possible to avoid any confusion.”, Logan explained. He locked his phone and put it on the counter.  
“And now we wait, I suppose.”, he crossed his arms.  
“Until then, let’s have a feast!”, Roman announced, “A Prince has to eat properly to maintain beauty!”  
“And a Duke is just hungry.”, Remus destroyed Romans speech.  
“Consider yourself lucky that we have the same face.”, Roman chuckled while opening the fridge.  
“It’s a blessing and a curse.”, Remus put more emphasis on the word “curse”, mainly to tease Roman.  
“How can having such a marvelous face be a curse?”, Roman wondered.  
“Well, if I don’t feel like seeing you, I can’t look in a mirror.”, Remus explained his claim.  
“That is a valid argument.”, Logan supported Remus’s claim.  
“I can’t argue with that, heh.”, Roman laughed lightly as he closed the fridge with his hip, as his hands were full with various jams and other goods to put on a toast, presumably.  
While the three boys were making breakfast, Diane finally woke up and joined them in the kitchen.  
“I smelled toast, here I am.”, she slurred, still influenced by her tiredness, “Someone feed me, now.”  
“Or you’re gonna unleash some dragon upon us?”, Remus joked.  
“Yes, exactly.”, Diane yawned, “Feed the Dragon Witch and she won’t get angry.”  
“We can only offer toast, cornflakes and leftover cake from yesterday.”, Roman counted down the options for Diane.  
“I’ll grab some cornflakes and a tea if that’s fine.”, Diane asked.  
“Sure.”, Roman nodded, getting a mug for the Senior.  
“Man, I wish Daddy-o was up.”, Remus moaned sadly, “He could make us some pancakes or something.”  
The next person to join the kitchen was Janus.  
“Hey Dee!”, Remus greeted him with a warm smile.  
Janus, still affected by the fogginess of his sleep, looked back and forth between the four teens.  
“Not to be rude, but you guys look messy.”, he then said.  
“I always look messy, what’s your point?”, Remus joked.  
“Unintentionally messy.”, Janus corrected.  
“We probably should have removed the make up before falling asleep.”, Logan pointed out.  
“I can hear Virgil complain about pimples already.”, Janus rolled his eyes.  
“Valid reason to complain!”, Roman chimed in, “I know I will treat myself to a face mask later.”  
“Nawww, poor Romie.”, Remus belittled his brother sarcastically.  
After some more banter, the five students managed to make themselves breakfast, while Patton and Virgil were still asleep.  
They each took a seat at the dinner table.  
It was quiet for a bit, as everyone dug into their grub, and no one wanted to speak with their mouths full of food.  
The silence was broken by a short ringing tone. Logan received a message.  
“Oh, who is it?”, Roman asked out of curiosity.  
Logan checked the screen.  
“It’s Mathew.”, he filled in, “He’s asking when he can pick Patton and I up.”  
“Aww.”, Roman breathed disappointedly.  
“No worries, I will keep you updated.”, Logan confirmed with a nod.  
“Did we miss sumn, or...?”, Diane questioned confused.  
“Logan took a brave step and contacted Mark!”, Roman exclaimed proudly.  
“Huh, I didn’t expect you to do that so soon.”, Janus raised his eyebrows surprised.  
“Better sooner than later, I presume.”, Logan sighed, “It has been a topic, that had been nagging on me ever since Austin admitted to not being my biological father. Now, excuse me, I have to wake Patton.”  
Logan got up and made his way towards the sofa his boyfriend had been resting on.  
Patton must have unconsciously taken the freedom to hog the entire couch to himself, as he had laid down by now.  
“Patton.”, Logan shook the smaller teens shoulder lightly.  
“Hmmmmm.”, came from Patton.  
“Wake up, love.”, Logan leaned down, pressing a kiss on Patton’s temple.  
“Five more minutessss....”, Patton complained.  
“Patton, it’s already 10:37 A.M., you don’t want to mess up your sleep schedule too much.”, Logan scolded softly, “You and Virgil are the only ones, that are still asleep.”  
“Yes, while you at it, could you wake Vee as well?”, Janus asked from the dinner table, “Thanks.”  
Suddenly a pillow flew past Logan and Patton and towards Janus, hitting him in the back of the head.  
“Never mind, he’s up.”, Janus fixed his posture after being hit by the pillow.  
“That... was incredibly good aim.”, Roman pointed out in awe, “And a good throw overall!”  
Roman, alongside the theater club, was in the baseball club. He’d been playing baseball since middle school and had been incredibly good at it.  
He’d rather do something more akin to fencing, but that was a rarity amongst high school clubs. So baseball it was.  
He mainly played it to stay fit. He tried to convince Remus to join as well; strong punches make strong throws; but the chaotic twin had no interest in sports at all. Instead he chose general science.  
It was hard to believe that Remus had been the nerdy twin, compared to Roman that was. He even had better grades in some departments. People just don’t expect that, considering the way Remus usually presented himself.  
“Virgil, would you be interested in joining the baseball club?”, Roman asked, a little loudly to make sure the emo teen would hear it.  
Janus suppressed a laugh. He knew exactly what answer his brother was about to give.  
“I’d rather be dead.”, Virgil replied.  
“Come on, Vir-“, Roman started to complain, but his whining was quickly shut down by aggressive stares from both Janus and Remus.  
“I-I mean, ahem-“, Roman cleared his throat, “I tried, bummer, hehe.”  
In the meantime, Patton finally got up from the sofa and went to the kitchen with Logan, to get himself some breakfast as well.  
“For how long have you guys been up for?”, Patton wondered while dunking a few cornflakes in a bowl.  
“Roughly 40 minutes.”, Logan filled him in, “I had been the one to wake up first.”  
“I’m not surprised at that, hehe.”, Patton giggled cutely.  
“Actually, I needed to get up as my...”, the words suddenly stuck in Logan’s throat.  
He knew if he told Patton the reason he woke up, Patton would feel guilty.  
On the other hand, Logan wanted to be honest with his partner, communication was and is key to a functioning relationship.  
“My rib started to hurt again.”, Logan explained, “I had to wake Remus to help me get up.”  
Patton thought for a moment, but realization hit him rather fast.  
“My gosh, I’m so sorry!”, he quickly apologized, “I completely forgot about that! How are you doing now? It didn’t get worse again, right?”  
Logan knew Patton would become overbearing again. But he didn’t mind that. He just didn’t want his boyfriend to worry too much.  
“I’m okay.”, Logan placed a hand on Patton’s cheek, “I completely forgot about it myself. We should still be careful for a little while.”  
Patton nodded in Logan’s hand.  
“Again, I’m sorry...”, he apologized once more, “You probably tried to wake me too, but I was just too cozy to actually get up. I like being in your arms...”, Patton leaned into Logan’s touch.  
“... And you really waited three years for this.”, Logan remembered Patton’s story he told a while ago.  
“It was absolutely worth it.”, the smaller teen smiled widely.

_But are you really worth it though?_

Logan jolted his head a little as the intrusive thought rushed through his head.  
He was quick to shake it off and leave it for now.  
One little thought didn’t indicate anything. Logan knew that.  
Maybe the events of the day prior were still sinking in with him.  
He was sure those thoughts won’t make another appearance again once everything has settled in with himself.  
He gave Patton a kiss on the forehead, which caused Patton to giggle in delight, and let go of his face, so that the smaller teen could finish preparing his breakfast.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan's finally meeting his real dad, and Remus's past caught up to him.
> 
> Trigger warnings: mentions of infidelity, mentions of past abuse and homophobia, mentions of non-con/ p*dophilia and underage drug use

Eventually, Patton and Logan had been picked up by Mathew. Diane offered to bring Janus and Virgil home, as she had to head that direction anyways.  
It was dinner time at the Hart family’s residence.  
Everyone sat at the dinner table, enjoying a vegetable casserole Catherine had made.  
“Oh, Janus and Remus gave us manicures too!”, Patton flashed his hand excitedly. He’d been babbling and rambling about the party the entire dinner.  
“We noticed, it looks very sweet on you, dear.”, Cat smiled.  
“We’re just happy that you two were still able to have a good time on your birthday.”, Mathew nodded contently.  
“How are you doing, Logan?”, Catherine put her attention to the other teen, “You’ve been pretty quiet ever since we picked you up. Is everything okay?”  
“I’m okay.”, Logan raised his hand slightly, “I’m just anticipating an answer from someone I have texted earlier today.”  
Mark took his sweet time to reply.  
Maybe he didn’t want to reply, it was possible, that he could have changed his mind.  
Logan gave him an ultimatum of 24 hours to reply. However, the anticipation still nagged on the teen.  
“Must be a really important person, if they make you so tense.”, Mathew pointed out.  
“It’s my real father.”, Logan instantly explained, “After I ran out of the court house, Susan handed me a note with his name and his phone number.”  
“That’s really brave of you.”, Patton’s mother encouraged Logan, “Especially considering the court happened yesterday.”  
“I thuought about it and I’d rather get this out of the way as quickly as possible, to be honest.”, Logan poked at his food a little, “Before it takes up too much of my mental strength.”  
“Who knows, maybe he’s a kind man.”, Catherine smiled.  
“I hope so.”, Logan was about to take his next bite, but was interrupted by his phone ringing.  
It was a call this time around.  
“Is it him?”, Patton asked with anticipation.  
“It... is.”, Logan checked the screen, “Uh, may I-“  
“Of course, go on!”, Catherine hushed Logan away.  
Logan quickly got up and went upstairs.  
He picked up once he reached his room.  
“Hello, this is Logan.”, he said, closing the door behind him.  
 _“It really is you! Susan was so adamant about us not meeting! I’m Mark!”_  
“I... am aware.”, Logan was at a slight loss of words. He didn’t expect Mark to be so cheery.  
 _“I hope I’m not overwhelming you with this phone call, hehe. I’m not really the text kind of person.”_  
“No worries, I’m not bothered. However you did interrupt dinner.”  
 _“Oops, my bad! I’ve been working and I just got home and saw the texts you sent me. But can I ask, what happened that Susan changed her mind?”_  
“To keep things simple for now, her and Austin admitted to me, that Austin was in fact not my real father.”  
 _“Ah, well, I guess you’re at an age where you deserve to know the truth, huh? You turned 17 yesterday, right?”_  
“You- You know my birthday?”  
 _“I do! I always asked Susan to wish you a happy birthday, even though I fully knew it would never get through. But hey, now I can do that personally. Happy late birthday!”_  
“T-Thanks.”, Logan never thought Mark to be that level of kind. It almost showed a threat to Patton and his parents when it came to kindness.  
 _“I-“_ , Mark wanted to keep the conversation going, but was interrupted by... something.  
Logan wasn’t able to make up what it was exactly, but it sounded like a child.  
 _“Oh, well, seems like I gotta hang up. Someone else needs my attention. - Be right there, buddy! - How about we meet in person? Only if you can, of course.”_  
“I wouldn’t be opposed to that.”, Logan agreed, “However, I do wish to meet somewhere public.”  
 _“Totally understandable. Is there any place in particular you’d like to meet at?”_  
“I will send you more detailed information through text, if that’s okay.”  
 _“Sure, just let me know soon enough so that I can plan everything through with my work and whatnot.”_  
“Will do.”  
 _“I’m glad! Well then, see you soon!”_  
“Good bye.”, with that, Logan hung up.  
He was perplexed to say the least.  
Even though the conversation was rather short lived, Logan could only say and think positive things about the first interaction with Mark.  
Was he dreaming?  
That couldn’t be real, could it?  
Mark was definitely too kindhearted to fall for someone like Susan.  
There had always been a chance that Mark used to be different, it has been almost 18 years after all since him and Susan had the affair that resulted into Logan being existent. At least, that was the teen boys thought process.  
Logan placed his phone on his desk and went back downstairs to the dinner table, to finish his meal.  
“Did it go well?”, Patton immediately asked.  
“Surprisingly.”, Logan said while sitting down, “Mark seems to be a very kind and polite man.”  
“That’s good news!”, Mathew cheered.  
“He would like to meet me eventually.”, Logan proceeded to poke in his food again, “I just don’t know when and where, even though I told him I would figure something out.”  
“I have to close the bakery next Sunday for inventory.”, Catherine filled in, “I could open it just for you and Mark, so you can have your privacy, while I’m in the back working.”  
“I could tag along if you want, Lo!”, Patton volunteered, “I don’t want you to go in this all by yourself, to be honest.”  
“Thank you.”, Logan gave a small smile, “I greatly appreciate your offer. I feel like I do need some mental support for this.”  
“And mental support you shall get!”, Patton smiled widely.

That week went by fast.  
No huge incidences. No big fights. For once, everything was at peace.  
Logan updated the group on the day he had received the call.

_Logan: Guys, may I have your attention please?_   
_Dukey: are you the real slim shady or what?_   
_Logan: ... What?_   
_Princey: It’s a meme._   
_Logan: I have no idea what that is._   
_StormCloud: YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT MEMES ARE? DUDE?!_   
_Pawton: hey, be nice!_   
_DragonWitch: I mean you’re talking to the only person in the group chat who uses his real name instead of a funky nickname_   
_SnakeDad: What is it you want to tell us, Logan?_   
_Logan: I said I would keep you updated about my whole situation with Mark._   
_Logan: Well, here is the update._   
_Dukey: oooooh 👀👀👀_   
_SnakeDad: Sssstop it, Remus._   
_StormCloud: He sure took his sweet time to respond man_   
_Logan: He had been at work. Anyways, I had a short conversation with him and we’re going to meet each other in person in exactly one week._   
_Princey: Those are some good news, I would say!_   
_DragonWitch: Where are y’all gonna meet tho?_   
_Pawton: at my moms bakery!!_   
_Logan: I purposely picked a public place._   
_Dukey: yo if he still fucks up somehow, don’t hesitate to text me, imma break a bitches legs if I need to_   
_DragonWitch: I’m in on that_   
_Logan: Thanks, but I don’t think that will be necessary. Patton and Catherine will be present too._   
_DragonWitch: gotta love a supportive bf and his mom, heh_   
_Pawton: <3 <3 <3_   
_SnakeDad: My god, not you too..._   
_Pawton: what???_   
_Dukey: Dee hates emojis 😭😭😭_   
_DragonWitch: use kaomojis instead, they’re much more fun_   
_DragonWitch: (￣∀￣)_   
_DragonWitch: ･:*+.\\(( °ω° ))/.:+_   
_SnakeDad: Somehow, that’s worse._   
_Pawton: OMG THAT’S SO CUTE!!!!! HOW DO I MAKE THOSE?!?!?!?!?_   
_SnakeDad: Oh no...._

And so the topic quickly shifted from Logan’s father to Kaomojis.  
Which didn’t really bother Logan, as he got out what he needed to get out.  
And now, he sat in the empty bakery, waiting with anticipation, sipping on a hot chamomile tea, to calm his nerves.  
Patton was behind the counter, preparing some leftover baked goods from the day prior. It had been mostly quiet, exception being Patton’s humming and some rummaging.  
When Patton looked up from his serving plate full of baked goods, he noticed a family of four standing at the locked door.  
Logan couldn’t have seen them, as he sat with his back turned towards the door.  
“Oh, they must think we’re open.”, Patton thought to himself. Even though there had been a sign at the door. He made a quick dash towards the door and unlocked it, opening it just a bit.  
“I’m sorry, we’re closed due to inventory!”, he informed the family kindly with an apologetic smile.  
“Excuse me, I’m Mark, I was supposed to meet Logan here?”, the father explained.  
“Oh! Of course, come in!”, Patton walked backwards, opening the door and waving the family in, “I’m Patton!”  
Patton only expected Mark to come.  
But maybe he needed some mental support, just as much as Logan did.  
Once the family had made it inside, Patton closed the door again, only locking it with a chain this time around.  
Logan felt like he was glued to his chair.  
He wanted to get up and introduce himself properly, and greet the guests formally, but he couldn’t.  
He knew Mark brought company. He heard the footsteps, the little chatter, the small whispers.  
“I’ll get more chairs real quick!”, Patton informed the others, “I didn’t know you’d bring more people.”  
“I probably should have mentioned that, my bad.”, Mark apologized with a small bow. Logan took a deep breath. His gaze wandered down to his half empty cup of tea.  
Tunnel vision suddenly kicked in. All Logan was able to focus on was the cup of tea in front of him.  
Until Patton placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him out from the deep thought.  
“Are you okay?”, Patton whispered.  
Logan blinked a few times.  
“I’m fine, I’m fine.”, he waved it off, “Thank you.”  
“Should I take a seat next to you?”, Patton wondered.  
“Please.”, Logan plead as quietly as possible.  
Patton nodded with a smile. He let go of Logan’s shoulder to grab a chair from the neighboring table and placed it next to Logan.  
“Would you like something to drink?”, he then asked the newcomers, “It’s all on the house! We also have some leftover baked goods from the day prior, for free as well, of course.”  
“That’s really kind, thank you.”, the woman smiled, “I’d like a coffee please.”  
“Same here.”, Mark nodded.  
“And what can I bring you?”, Patton asked the teen Mark and the woman brought along.  
“Tea...”, they mumbled.  
“What kind?”, Patton tilted his head, “We have peppermint, chamomile, green tea, black tea, fruit tea-“  
“Peppermint.”, the teen uttered.  
“On it! And the little one?”, Patton then put his attention to the toddler the woman had on her lap.  
“We have juice packed for him, but thanks.”, the woman denied the last offer.  
Patton nodded once more before making his way back behind the counter and to the coffee machine.  
“So. Here we are.”, Mark smiled at Logan.  
“It... would seem so.”, Logan nodded in agreement.  
The air was filled with an awkward and nervous aura.  
“My apologies.”, Logan spoke up, “I’m not sure now to... handle this situation properly. It has a different feel meeting you personally.”  
“Oh, I understand completely.”, Mark nodded understandingly, “I could start with introducing you to my family. Well, technically speaking, you’re part of it too, so it’s your family as well.”  
Somehow, hearing that from Mark didn’t feel right to Logan. Mainly because of how little he knew about the Berry family.  
“So, this is my wife of ten years, Viv.”, Mark introduced the woman first, “Our oldest child Cass.”, he then moved onto the teen, “And our son, Tyler.”, the toddler was last.  
“Cass, may I ask what your pronouns are?”, Logan briefly put his attention to his younger half sibling.  
“Uh, they and them...?”, Cass told Logan slightly confused.  
“Thank you.”, Logan thanked Cass with a small smile, “Mine are he and him.”  
Cass seemed to have loosened up by Logan’s openness.  
“Cass has been going by they/them for a short while only.”, Mark explained, “I’m glad to see you’re so accepting.”  
“I would be a hypocrite if I wasn’t, considering-”, Logan explained without context, but was quickly interrupted.  
“Here are your beverages!”, Patton suddenly chimed in. He brought a tray with various mugs, some sugar packets and milk cups. He carefully placed it down on the table and handed each their rightful mug.  
“I’ll get the snacks real quick!”, Patton took the empty tray with him as he fetched the pastries.  
“Okay, all set!”, Patton then finally took a seat as he placed the plate with the snacks in the middle of the table, “Dig in!”  
Cass instantly grabbed a chocolate croissant and took a bite.  
Logan wanted to steer back to the original topic at hand.  
“You were saying?”, seemed like Mark had the same idea.  
“I... Well, I have a boyfriend.”  
“Oh, that’s nice!”, Mark cheered, “Are we ever going to meet him?”  
“You already did.”, Logan said while pointing at Patton.  
Viv laughed.  
“Way to be oblivious, dad.”, Cass jokingly scolded their father with a smirk.  
“I didn’t want to assume!”, Mark raised his hands in defense.  
“A little clarity never hurt anybody.”, Logan defended his father.  
The group kept chatting about various things.  
Logan told the Berry family about his interests, peers and academics, which impressed Mark quite greatly.  
On the other hand, Mark and his family talked about their dynamic, about the kids and their interests. Turned out, Cass was 13 and Tyler was three. That hadn’t been made clear when they were first introduced.  
“Maybe you could give Cass some tutoring.”, Mark pat his kids shoulder, “They’re struggling with math and Spanish.”  
“I can help with math.”, Logan informed, “I’ve been tutoring Patton for a little while. However, I can’t help with Spanish, I never had that as an elective.”  
“I guess imma fail Spanish then.”, Cass shrugged.  
“I may have a solution.”, Logan explained, “Two of our friends happen to be fluent in Spanish.”  
“Speaking of, look over there.”, Patton pointed past the two adults.  
Logan perked up a little, whereas the others turned their head a little.  
That’s when they spotted the Kingsley twins, obviously observing the situation.  
Both of them tensed up at the same time.  
“They spotted us!”, Remus yelled, “Scatter!”  
“Uhm... was that them?”, Mark asked, turning his head back around.  
“Yes.”, Logan admitted, “They probably wanted to check of everything is going well.”  
“Is there a reason for them doing that?”, Viv wondered.  
Logan tensed up.  
He had to tell Mark about his current situation eventually.  
“Uh...”, he nervously fumbled with his fingers. Sadly, Logan had forgotten the fidget cube Virgil had gifted him.  
“I...”, the teen tried to find the right words, but was clearly struggling.  
“It’s okay, Lo.”, Patton stroked his partners upper arm, “Take your time.”  
“Susan and Austin disowned me for being gay. Austin even went so far to beat me with a belt.”, Logan took a deep breath in between to calm himself, “The only reason I know of you is because I took them to court, Austin admitted to not being my real father and Susan gave me your contact info.”  
“That’s all sorts of messed up.”, Cass said with disgust.  
“It is.”, Logan agreed, “And, well, Roman and Remus probably want to make sure, that this meeting won’t escalate the same way. But I don’t think it will.”  
“It won’t!”, Mark exclaimed appalled, “What Susan and her husband did is absolutely inhumane! I wish I could have done something much sooner!”  
“Why didn’t Susan just hand you to Mark from the get go?”, Viv asked.  
“She didn’t want the truth to get out to public.”, Logan filled in.  
He continued to explain his situation in detail, making the adults jaws drop further and further.  
“Well, I’m glad you live with Patton’s family and have supportive friends.”, Viv noted, still shocked.  
“And now you have us.”, Mark tried comforting his son, “If you want us, that is.”  
“I think... I would welcome that.”, Logan smiled tiredly. He’d been mentally exhausted from the recap.

After roughly an hour, the two parties decided to call it quits for the day. Mainly because Tyler got tired and whiny. They stood in front of the bakery, leaving Catherine to finish the inventory.  
Patton insisted on helping, but his mother assured him multiple times that she can handle it herself.  
“Call or send a text whenever you want or need to.”, Mark informed Logan, “I’ll try to respond as fast as possible.”  
“I will.”, Logan smiled a little, “And let me know when I can come over and help Cass with math.”  
“Can’t wait.”, Cass sarcastically cheered.  
“Thank you so much for giving me a chance, Logan.”, Mark placed a hand on the teen boys shoulder.  
“I’m glad I contacted you in the first place.”, Logan affirmed, “I had my doubts at first, to be completely honest.”  
“I understand that.”, Mark dropped his arm, “But I’m glad too.”  
“See you soon, Logan!”, Viv waved from the car. She already put her youngest child inside the vehicle.  
The group gave their good byes and the Berry family went on their merry way.  
“Okay, so we can take the bus, or go by foot.”, Patton pointed out.  
“I wouldn’t mind taking a walk through downtown.”, Logan suggested. He held out a hand, for Patton to link in with his own.  
With a giddy chuckle, Patton grabbed Logan’s hand and took a step closer.  
“Let’s go then.”, he smiled at he taller teen.  
“Seems like everything went well!”, a third voice boomed next to the couple, making both Logan and Patton jump.  
They turned their head and spotted the Kingsley twins, coming out of their hideout. Which had been the corner around the bakery.  
Roman had been the one to surprise the teens.  
“Roman!”, Patton scolded.  
“Don’t tell me the two of you waited for us to be done.”, Logan sighed.  
“We did.”, Remus grinned behind Roman, “We were just making sure everything would go gucci.”  
“However, the day started with us just shopping!”, Roman added, “I swear!”  
“Yeah, I got a sick pair of high heels, heh.”, Remus bragged, holding up the paper bag the shoes were in.  
“High heels?”, Patton raised an eyebrow, more out of curiosity than anything.  
“Yeah, for my role in the play.”, Remus explained, “There’s a scene where I have to get up in drag. That’s gonna be great!”  
“You’re way too excited for this role.”, Roman chuckled.  
He was mostly happy to see his brother so genuinely upbeat and delighted.  
“Anyways!”, Remus yelled to get the attention on himself again, “How did it go with Mark?”  
“How about I update you while we’re heading home.”, Logan implied that he wanted to get going.  
Logan updated the twins in detail, which took him about twenty minutes.  
However, no one noticed for how long Logan had been talking, as time flew by rather quickly.  
“Mark does sound like a decent person.”, Roman nodded.  
“Indeed.”, Logan affirmed, “I’m still on defense though, but I assume that’s normal.”  
“Yeah.”, Remus pondered, “You should have seen us when Maria first came to our family.”  
“You were on defense too, Roman?”, Logan raised an eyebrow.  
“Of course.”, Roman said, “I had the same concerns as Remus for a while, that she was out to replace dad. But eventually, I gave Maria a chance.”  
“Hey, so did I!”, Remus exclaimed offended, “I just needed more time than you.”  
“True.”, Roman chuckled.  
“This is slightly off topic, but could either of you tutor a 13 year old in Spanish?”, Logan then asked, to change the topic.  
“Of course we could.”, Roman smiled.  
“That’s the only subject Roman doesn’t completely suck ass in.”, Remus teased his twin.  
“Well, excuse me!”, Roman yelled appalled, “I just have different priorities! Also, my grades aren’t _that_ bad.”  
“Who is the lucky kid?”, Remus wondered.  
“My... younger half-sibling Cass.”, it was still weird for Logan to refer to anyone as his sibling, considering he lived his entire life as an only child, “They're having trouble with math and Spanish.”  
“Middle school Spanish should be easy enough for us to tutor.” Remus elbowed his brother in the ribs.  
“Agreed, we’re in.”, Roman confirmed.  
“Thank you.”, Logan bowed lightly.  
“Okay, okay, I need your guys help now.”, Remus then suddenly switched the topic entirely, “Y’all got any good date ideas for me and Dee?”  
“You’re going on another date?”, Patton asked delighted.  
“Yeah, kind of a long story, really.”, Remus scratched his neck, “This time I’m in charge of planning something, but I don’t know what the fuck makes a date a date. The only one I’ve been on was the one with Dee in the aquarium.”  
“That reminds me, we still need to go on our museum date, Lo!”, Patton looked up at his boyfriend with a warm smile.  
“I didn’t forget about that.”, Logan smiled back.  
“Hey, let’s focus, okay?”, Remus brought the attention back to him.  
“Hmm...”, Patton put a finger on his chin with his free hand, “Maybe go to the zoo? It’s a bit out of town, but you can reach it by bus and by train.”  
“Zoo?”, Remus tilted his head confused.  
“There’s a reptile house with a lot of snakes. Sometimes, they do a snake show too.”, Logan filled in.  
“But wouldn’t that be too similar to the aquarium date Dee and I had?”, Remus sulked.  
“Perhaps, but it covers both of your interests, I assume, and you would spend a lot of leisure time together.”, Logan elaborated further, “I don’t see how similarities would be such a bad thing.”  
“I do like freaky animals, heh.”, Remus giggled, “I’ll keep that idea in mind.”  
“It’s a shock that a creative brain like you couldn’t think of an own idea.”, Roman wondered, “Even if you’re inexperienced.”  
“Again, mushy romance-y stuff isn’t my forte.”, Remus reminded Roman, “Plus all my ideas were a bit too feral for Dee’s liking. And perhaps not all too legal either.”  
“Like... what?”, Patton was almost too afraid to ask, but curiosity got the cat-lover.  
“Rave Parties, dumpster parties, summoning demons at three in the morning, arson...”, Remus counted down his ideas.  
“I-“, Roman stuttered, being at a loss of words, “What?”  
“See? I told you I suck at that kind of stuff.”, Remus took Roman being speechless as bulletproof evidence for his claim.  
“You really do.”, Roman confirmed, “But why didn’t you ask me right away?”  
“Because you know this town as well as I do.”, Remus explained himself, “Which is not a lot.”  
“You’re right about that.”, the cleaner twin admitted defeat.  
“Okay, zoo, what else could I do?”, Remus then asked the romantically inclined couple again.  
“The mall a town over has a gaming arcade.”, Patton remembered, “But I don’t think Janus plays video games outside of our get togethers.”  
“You could also visit the museum.”, Logan suggested, “It’s not limited to myself and Patton.”  
“Looking at some dead dinosaurs and dusty paintings?”, Remus thought to himself out loud, “Could be fun too I guess.”  
“You don’t seem too thrilled.”, Patton noticed instantly.  
“Yeah, nah, I’m not, sorry.”  
“That’s okay.”, Patton reassured Remus.  
“Do you guys have a bowling alley or something?”, Roman wondered.  
“We do, but I don’t think Janus is up for that, considering his restrictions.”, Logan pointed out.  
Roman smacked his forehead.  
“Right, I forgot.”  
“I mean, I could ask him if he wants to do that nonetheless.”, Remus shrugged, “Sounds like more fun than the museum idea. Okay, so, zoo and bowling it is for now, thanks guys.”  
“Hey, what about the movies?”, Patton then threw in.  
“Eh, that’s more of a seventh date type deal.”, Roman quickly shut it down.  
“Why seven, exactly?”, Logan questioned.  
While Roman explained his date strategies to the others, they passed by a corner store, which sold mostly cigarettes, magazines and lottery tickets.  
A greasy looking guy, easily in the late twenties, just left the store, lighting a cigarette.  
He then glanced over at the teens, keeping his eye on Remus specifically.  
“Well, if this isn’t my little cum slut!”, he smiled devilishly.  
Remus stopped in his tracks. Eyes widened, fists balled so tight, his knuckles turned white.  
“Remus?”, Roman turned around, shooting a confused look at his brother.  
“Oh, hey, there’s two of you, how fun.”, the man came closer, wrapping an arm around Remus’s shoulder, making the teen flinch.  
However, the adults grip was tight enough to keep the boy in place.  
“You haven’t been answering my calls lately.”, the creep took his cig out of his mouth and blew the smoke in Remus’s face, making him cough, “Wasn’t I your favorite or something?”  
“I said that to everyone.”, Remus admitted through gritted teeth, “You’re not special.”  
“Who is that?”, Patton asked Roman in a whisper. The latter shook his head confused.  
He had a vague idea, but didn’t want to say it out loud.  
“Just- Leave me alone.”, Remus tried escaping the mans grip, but was met with the second hand on his other shoulder, the man now standing in front of him. His nails dug through the fabric of Remus’s green button up, almost tearing holes into it.  
“Listen here, you little bitch, you belong to me.”, he growled, “And before I hurt you even more, you come with me and be the little slut you’ve meant to be. Even if that means I have to bribe you with coke.”  
“Let go of me, you fucking pedo!”, Remus tried wriggling out of the grasp.  
Usually, Remus would have been able to easily escape by now, but the shock of meeting someone from his awful past still weakened him.  
Suddenly, an arm wrapped in red fabric wrapped around the mans neck from behind, pulling him back, chocking him slightly. It was enough for the guy to let go of Remus and drop his cigarette.  
“Roman!”, Logan and Patton yelled in unison.  
“Hands off my brother!”  
“You little shit-!”, the man tried to free himself from Romans grasp. However, the teen was stronger than the creep anticipated.  
“Remus, run!”, Roman yelled at his twin, “I’ll take care of him!”

_No!_   
_You don’t know what he’s capable of doing, you dumb wannabe hero!_

Is what Remus wanted to scream at his brother.  
Instead, he did what he was told.  
He ran.  
Fast.  
Away from his friends, his brother.  
Away from his past.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to angst town. Population: Remus Duke Kingsley.  
> There's some fluff in there too, I'm not that cruel.
> 
> Trigger warnings: mentions of non-con/p*dophilia, mentions of underage drug use, relapse, self harm (in form of intense scratching)

He somehow managed to make it home.  
As he walked down the sidewalk, completely out of breath, planning to go to the from door, he saw his mothers storming out of the house.  
“Remus!”, Maria yelled as she spotted her step-son. She ran towards him, holding him in a hug instantly.  
“What-?”, he uttered confused.  
“I’m so glad you’re okay!”, Maria loosened the hug, “We just got a call from the hospital, something happened to Roman!”  
“Quick, get in!”, Anne already had one foot in the car as she ordered her family to get in.  
“No...”, Remus whimpered, “No, no, no, fuck!”  
“Remus, what’s going on?”, Maria asked concerned.  
“This is all my fault!”, Remus dug his hands in his hair, scratching his scalp aggressively, “What if he’s in a coma?! Or dead?!”  
“Roman’s not dead, come on.”, Maria guided the upset teen to the car.

“Hello, we’re here for Roman Kingsley.”, Anne talked to the receptionist.  
Remus tried his best to remain collected.  
Calm, not so much. He shivered out of anger, mostly directed at himself, and concern.  
“Are you close family?”, the man at the reception asked.  
“Yes, we’re his mothers, and his twin brother.”  
“May I see some identification?”  
Anne got in her satchel and got an ID.  
The receptionist quickly checked.  
“Okay. He’s in the emergency waiting room.”  
Anne let out a sigh of relief. It sounded like Roman was still in good enough shape to be taken home right away.  
The trio made their way to the emergency entrance of the hospital.  
When they made one more turn into the waiting room, they spotted Roman sitting on a chair, already patched up. He was on his phone.  
“Roman!”, Anne called out to the teen.  
Roman didn’t look that bad.  
Well, not as bad as Remus anticipated.  
The sporty twin had a bandage wrapped around his arm, a big square white band aid on his forehead and a black, swollen eye.  
“Ah, my pick up!”, Roman smiled widely.  
To Remus’s surprise.  
Roman got up from his seat, put his phone away and walked towards his family.  
“My god, are you okay?”, Anne asked concerned.  
“I’m fine.”, Roman waved it off with a smile.  
“Is your arm broken? And what happened to your face?”, Marie questioned, just as concerned.  
“Ah, well, a few stitches here and there, you know?”, Roman explained, “And no, my arm isn’t broken, do not worry.”  
“You’re a fucking idiot.”, suddenly came from behind the mothers.  
“... Remus?”, Roman asked carefully.  
The parents each took a step aside, making room for Remus.  
“You’re so fucking stupid, why would you risk your life for me?”, Remus angrily glared his sibling down.  
“Isn’t it my duty as your older brother to protect you?”, Roman grinned at his twin.  
The angry facade broke when Remus started to sniffle.  
“You’re not the older bro, Prince Empty Head.”, Remus came a step closer and leaned his head against Roman’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around the others waist.  
Roman reciprocated the hug instantly, letting out a chuckle.  
“Don’t you dare do this shit again.”, Remus mumbled into Roman’s shoulder, “I don’t want to lose you too.”  
“You won’t.”, Roman pat Remus’s head, “I promise.”

Back home, Remus barricaded himself in his room again. He didn’t even feel like watching Octo swim around in his tank.  
Instead, he laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling.  
His phone had been blowing up, but he didn’t feel like answering any texts or calls at the moment. Quite frankly, he was at the brink of throwing his phone against the wall again. The only reason he hadn’t done it was he didn’t really want to get scolded by his moms again.  
A knock interrupted his silence.  
“Go away!”, Remus yelled.  
The person outside waited a moment before knocking again.  
“I said go away!”, Remus emphasized his order.  
“Well, I guess I will have to go back home again.”, came a familiar voice.  
Remus instantly recognized, that it had been Janus.  
The twin quickly scrambled to get up and open the door.  
“What are you doing here?!”, Remus panted.  
“You weren’t responding to any of my texts.”, Janus explained, “And you usually reply rather fast whenever I contact you.”  
“Y-yeah...”, Remus scratched his neck, “I guess so.”  
“Plus, Roman, Logan and Patton told us what happened.”, Janus filled in further, “May I come in?”  
“Of course.”, Remus stepped aside and let his love interest in.  
“Are you okay?”, Janus instantly asked when he heard the door shut.  
“Bitch, do I look like I’m okay?”, Remus grumbled, “I was almost responsible for my only brothers death.”  
“Hm.”, Janus took a seat on Remus’s bed, patting the space next to him, “From what Roman looks like, he doesn’t seem to be in much of a life threatening situation.”  
“You don’t get it.”, Remus sat down next to the guest, “That guy, his name is Andy. He’s a drug dealer, very unpredictable. I’m surprised he didn’t have a gun on him.”  
“How come the two of you are aquatinted?”, Janus wondered.  
“Uh.. He... uhm...”, Remus scratched his mustache, “We, kinda, sorta, fucked, I guess...”  
His voice became more quiet the more words he spoke.  
“I’m sorry for asking.”, Janus realized his mistake rather quickly.  
“No, don’t- You didn’t know.”, Remus shook his head, “He may as well have been my drug dealer or something, which he was, but that’s a different story.”  
Remus let out a sigh.  
“Let me check the group chat real quick.”, he grabbed his phone and unlocked it.  
Janus gave a quiet nod.

Logan: Remus? Where are you?  
Logan: We just called the police and an ambulance, that guy stabbed Roman in the arm and punched him in the face.  
SnakeDad: Excuse me, but what?!  
StormCloud: What in the everliving hell happened?!  
DragonWitch: why are you even typing that in the group chat???  
Logan: Remus won’t pick up when I call him, and maybe I have better chances of him responding, when he sees the messages in the group chat.  
StormCloud: Is Roman okay???  
Logan: He is. Patton is taking care of him. He’s still responsive and can answer questions clearly, so he most likely didn’t suffer a concussion.  
SnakeDad: What about Remus?  
Logan: He ran away, we don’t know where he is.  
Logan: But he seems to be unharmed, he hasn’t been attacked by the guy like Roman has.  
DragonWitch: Was the dude arrested at least?  
Logan: Police hasn’t arrived yet, but Roman knocked him out quite well.  
StormCloud: Roman??? Knocked someone out???? That dude must be a real scumbag  
Logan: Well, he called Remus a, excuse my language, “cum slut”.  
DragonWitch: I’m surprised you know how to spell that word  
Logan: Spending time with Remus alone in the psych ward sure has some... educational qualities, I suppose.  
StormCloud: Yeah I’m not surprised about that one.  
SnakeDad: Please keep us updated. Especially when Remus appears again.  
Logan: Will do.

Princey: What is up, plebes? Guess who saved the day!  
StormCloud: Jesus fuck dude, what were you thinking?!  
Princey: Well, someone had to protect Remus from that greasy nonce.  
StormCloud: NONCE???  
SnakeDad: Don’t tell me...  
Princey: I can’t confirm for sure, but  
Princey: Has Remus told you about it?  
SnakeDad: His past? Yes.  
Princey: Yeah, exactly that.  
Princey: I assume that man was someone from Remus’s past, considering Remus yelled “pedo” at him.  
DragonWitch: Jesus Fuck....  
Princey: But he was arrested!  
Princey: Teach and Padre still seem to be at the police station.  
StormCloud: how are you doing though?  
Princey: I’m as fine as I can be.  
Princey: I needed some stitches on my forehead and my arm. Luckily, it’s my right arm.  
Princey: Even so, I can still move it.  
Princey: On top of that, my beautiful face had been so evilly graced by a black eye.  
Princey: Another sign of my heroism.  
Princey: So please don’t be too shocked when I come to school tomorrow.  
DragonWitch: well, your ego is still intact, so seems like you’re good to go  
Princey: Hey!  
SnakeDad: Any signs for Remus? Logan said he ran off.  
Princey: He did, yes. I told him to do so.  
Princey: He most likely ran home or hid somewhere.  
Princey: Oh, nevermind! He’s with our moms! See you later!

Remus decided that that was enough he needed to read for now.  
He locked his phone and threw it on his pillow.  
“It’s all my fault.”, he uttered to himself.  
“Don’t blame yourself.”, Janus instantly pulled Remus into a side hug, however the latter flinched and scooted away.  
“Uh-“, Janus slowly dropped his arm, giving Remus a confused look.  
“I-I‘m sorry.”, Remus apologized, “Andy hugged me the same way earlier.”  
“Oh. My apologies.”  
“No!”, Remus exclaimed, reminiscent of a little kid almost, “Stop apologizing!”  
His mind was clearly scrambled at the moment.  
Janus didn’t know what to do.  
He didn’t dare touch Remus in any way, shape or form now. He also wasn’t sure what to say to him, he didn’t want to say the wrong thing by accident.  
Remus started to nervously scratch his arms and head.  
“Remus...?”, Janus carefully and quietly called out to the other teen.  
“Everything’s itching.”, Remus admitted, “Everything feels so disgusting.”  
Janus’s eyes darted back and forth between Remus and a random spot in his room. He was at a loss.  
“For fucks sake!”, Remus’s scratching got more erratic and intense, “Make it stop!”  
“Remus, please stop scratching!”, Janus at least tried.  
“I-I can’t!”, Remus dug his nails in the side of his face, “It won’t stop!”  
The twin fell backwards on his bed, to have better access to his body.  
Slowly but surely, his scratches got so deep that they hurt him, making his skin emit blood.  
“Stop it!”, Janus, without giving it much thought, grabbed Remus’s wrists and held them upwards.  
“Let go!”, Remus plead, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.  
“No!”, Janus struggled keeping Remus’s hands away from him, considering Remus was much stronger than the blond boy, “You’re hurting yourself!”  
Remus sat up and used his whole upper body strength to push Janus away from him. Which resulted in the latter falling off the the bed with a loud thud.  
“FUCK!”, Remus exclaimed frustrated, “I’m ruining everything! First my dad, then my brother, now you!”  
The twin moved on to scratching his thighs, which were especially sensitive.  
“Remus, no!”, Janus quickly got up from the ground, “It’s okay! I’m fine!”  
“No!”, Remus yelled, tears fully streaming down his face, “I hurt you!”  
Suddenly, the door opened rapidly, revealing Anne.  
“Is everything okay?”, she asked, out of breath. She most likely heard Janus’s fall and got worried.  
“Remus!”, the mother then instantly noticed her sons state. She ran inside, holding onto Remus’s face.  
“Janus, what happened?”, she then asked the guest.  
Janus himself was at the brink of crying.  
“I- I don’t know?!”, he stuttered.  
“Can you get Maria please?”, Anne asked before fully focusing on her child.  
Janus ran out and downstairs, informing Maria to go and see her wife.  
“Scheiße...”, Maria uttered before making her way upstairs.  
That left a panic filled Janus and a worried Roman in the living room.  
“Hey, Janus.”, Roman tried getting the other teen boys attention.  
Janus didn’t reply. His gaze was locked at a random spot on the floor.  
“Earth to Storm!”, Roman waved his left hand in front of Janus’s face, which made he latter jump.  
“S-sorry.”, he apologized.  
“Do you want to sit down?”, Roman asked, pointing at the sofa.  
“Please.”, Janus hugged himself, slowly making his way to the couch. Roman took the freedom to guide him there. That when he noticed how badly Janus shivered.  
“Can you tell me what happened?”, Roman then asked once both of them fully seated on the sofa.  
“I... I think Remus had a breakdown.”, Janus explained with a shaky voice, “I don’t know. He kept scratching himself and-“  
“Calm down.”, Roman interrupted Janus, “Breathe with me, okay?”  
It took Janus a few cycles of breathing exercises to properly calm down.  
“Thank you.”, he whispered.  
“No problem.”, Roman smiled lightly, “Remus’s breakdowns can get overwhelming if you don’t know what to do.”  
“Is he going to be okay at least?”, Janus asked.  
“Yeah.”, Roman nodded, “He always manages to bounce back.”  
“Roman.”, Maria suddenly called out to her step-child.  
Roman turned around, spotting his step-mother with a backpack on her back.  
The twin knew what that meant.  
“We’re going to be out for a while.”, Maria informed Roman, “We’ll be back later tonight.”  
“Without Remus I assume?”, Roman questioned.  
Maria gave a silent nod.  
“Okay...”, Roman sighed, “Say hi to Remy for me.”  
“What does that mean?”, Janus asked concerned.  
“Remus had a relapse.”, Roman breathed, “Didn’t think that would happen again. Especially so soon.”  
“Relapse?”, Janus questioned with disbelief.  
Roman didn’t have time to explain, as Anne and Remus came downstairs.  
“Hey...”, Roman jumped up from the sofa and jogged towards his brother.  
Remus quietly but quickly hugged Roman.  
“Hey, it’s okay, it’s going to be okay...”, Roman hugged his twin back, “You’re going to be okay.”  
Remus was clearly exhausted. He didn’t react to Romans cooing whatsoever.  
Janus decided to get up as well. He took his time to get to the couple of brothers however, as he was still unsure how to act around Remus at the moment. So he decided to also keep a little distance.  
Which didn’t work, as a pair of arms quickly wrapped around Janus’s neck.  
Remus must have broken the hug with Roman when Janus didn’t pay attention.  
“Remus, sweetie, we gotta go.”, Anne rubbed her sons back lightly.  
Remus nodded against Janus’s shoulder.  
He loosened the hug, just enough to be able to look at Janus’s face with a small distance.  
“See ya soon.”, he smiled tiredly.  
“Mhm.”, Janus nodded, reciprocating the smile.  
They broke the hug, letting Remus leave the house with his moms.  
Once the door feel in its lock, Roman let out a deep, depressing sigh.  
“Is... there anything I could have done?”, Janus wondered.  
“Not really.”, Roman shook his head, “The relapse was probably triggered by that guy from earlier. I was hoping he would never encounter any of these men again, considering we moved to an entirely different town.”  
“For how long will he be gone?”  
“Most likely three weeks. It’s not his first time there, and his relapse didn’t seem too bad. It’s still a relapse though.”  
“I wish I could have done more.”, Janus rubbed his neck, “I just stood there like a deer in headlights.”  
“Sometimes, that’s all you can really do.”, Roman shrugged, “Remus is unpredictable, there isn’t really one right way to calm him down.”  
Janus dropped his arm.  
“I... I think I’m going to call my parents to come and pick me up.”, he told Roman, “Unless you want me to stay for some odd reason.”  
“To be honest, I don’t feel like being alone for so long.”, Roman explained, “Maybe we can invite Virgil and Diane over and have a spontaneous sleep over. I assume Logan and Patton are probably still at the police station.”  
Janus contemplated for a moment.  
“Sounds like fun.”, he agreed, “We could use a little distraction.”

The next day, Diane offered to take the boys to school, as that made the most obvious sense to everyone. She was the only one in the group who had a car.  
It was a surprise to Logan and Patton that Diane was accompanied by Roman, Virgil and Janus. But not Remus.  
“My gosh...”, Patton exclaimed quietly as he saw Roman, “He really did you dirty, didn’t he?”  
“It was worth it.”, Roman puffed out his chest and guided his healthy hand through his hair, “Wounds are just temporary.”  
“Is there a reason why the four of you arrived at the exact same time?”, Logan raised an eyebrow, “Also, where is Remus?”  
The group of four each made a noise that indicated something along the lines of “Wait, we forgot to tell Logan and Patton.”.  
“Remus is back in the hospital.”, Roman filled in, “For four weeks actually. I speculated three at first, but, oh well.”  
“Yeah, and because of that, the four of us had a spontaneous sleep over.”, Diane continued the explanation, “We didn’t know for how long you guys were at the police station, so yeah.”  
“It took quite a while, actually.”, Patton elaborated slightly disgruntled, “We were really tired afterwards.”  
“We would have appreciated the offer nonetheless, even if we had denied.”, Logan nodded, “I assume you’re going to accompany me when I head to my fathers place this week, Roman?”  
“Right, the tutoring thing.”, Roman remembered, “Sure!”  
“Satisfactory.”, Logan gave a small smile.  
“Ooh, Roman the teacher.”, Diane teased, “I guess there’s some smarts in that airhead of yours.”  
“And here I thought I would miss my brothers teasing.”, Roman complained sarcastically, “Turns out, you have his mannerisms down to a t.”  
“I truly am an actress!”, Diane dramatically placed the back of her hand on her forehead.  
“Now that you mention it, it’s going to be quite... silent while Remus is gone.”, Janus pointed out.  
“Roman could flirt with you.”, Diane suggested jokingly, “All he needs is a fake mustache and boom! It’s almost like Remus is here.”  
“.... No thank you.” Janus gave Diane a disgusted look.  
“Excuse me?!”, Roman took offense, “I’m great at flirting!”  
“Ah, yes, because the last time you flirted with a Storm brother went so smoothly.”, Janus reminded the twin teasingly.  
Virgil let out a snort. He quickly covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve.  
“And you’re clearly spending too much time with my brother.”, Roman countered.  
“Nah, he has always been that snarky.”, Virgil giggled.  
Even with the lighthearted banter surrounding he friend group, it hadn’t been the same without Remus.  
And everyone would notice that.  
It was similar to the time Logan had been missing for a week due to his broken rib, which had been fully healed by now.  
Except that this time, Remus’s absence would last longer.

At least the first week passed by rather quickly.  
Saturday morning.  
Remus had some free time to spare, so he watched TV all by himself, as his roommate had his own schedule to follow. He laid on his bed, occasionally having a short one sided chat with his octopus plushie Patton had gifted to him.  
Remus didn’t like his current roommate that much. He thought he was too boring. Logan had been much more fun. But Remus won’t have to endure it for as long this time.  
A knock at the door, quickly followed by said door opening, echoed through the room.  
“Wake up, Duke of the Trash Goblins, you got visitors!”, Remy cheered.  
“Is it you and another nurse?”, Remus asked his cousin.  
“Nah, it’s some goth chick and an edgier version of Logan.”, Remy, now in Remus’s full view, explained.  
“Dee and D.W.!”, Remus jumped up from his bed, anticipating his friends.  
“I didn’t expect you to be so full of energy!”, Diane grinned as she walked behind Janus.  
The latter didn’t even have a chance to say hello, as he had been instantly tackle hugged by Remus.  
Janus was taken aback a little, mainly because he wasn’t prepared for an aggressive hug like that. He should have expected that though.  
Remus was quick to break the hug though, his excitement made him like an uncontrollable bouncy ball.  
“I didn’t think you’d come and visit me.”, he smiled widely.  
“It got really boring without you.”, Janus explained, “Also, Roman’s ego was suddenly so overshadowing and loud, it was unbearable.”  
“Yeah, we usually balance each other out with our loudness.”, Remus shrugged, “How is Superdork doing by the way?”  
“His wounds are healing quite well.”, Janus filled in, “He pretends to be unbothered, but he’s really ticked off about the black eye specifically.”  
“My god, not his, oh, so beautiful face!”, Remy wailed sarcastically.  
“It’s even worse now that I’m gone.”, Remus joked, “His walking mirror has been locked away, heh.”  
The twin dropped back on his bed, his legs dangling off the edge, and his arms lazily stretched out.  
“Are you alone in here?”, Diane wondered.  
“Nah, my roommate is out right now.”, Remus explained, “He’s quite boring.”  
“Hey, be nice, you dingus.”, Remy warned.  
“I am!”, Remus sad up, leaning on his arms, “I’m just not on the same wavelength with him as I was with Lo!”  
“Okay valid.”, Remy nodded, “Just don’t do anything that would make you stay here for longer.”  
“Bitch, do I look like-“, Remus uttered.  
“Anyways, we got a surprise for you!”, Diane held up a black square bag.  
“... I mean, thanks for a bag I guess?”, Remus knitted his eyebrow together in confusion.  
“No, you jackass, we’re having some quality make over time.”, Diane dropped the bag on the bed, “I brought my entire make up collection with me.”  
“Did you clean the brushes?”, Remy wondered.  
“Yes.”, Diane nodded, “Maybe.”, she then changed her mind, “No, not really.”, she then shook her head.  
“Well, don’t complain about any pimples or whatever.”, Remy told his cousin.  
“I’m not Roman.”, Remus chuckled, “I thought the mustache made that clear enough.”  
“I’m just sayin’.”, Remy held his hand up in defense.  
“If you want-“, Janus took a seat next to Remus, “-you can start with me.”  
Remus’s eyes grew wide with glee.  
“Fuck yes!”, he cheered, reaching around Janus to get the make up bag.  
“I think I can trust you with not stabbing anyone’s eyes out, right?”, Remy wondered.  
“Look at his face.”, Remus pointed at Janus with the backside of a make up brush, “How could I ever harm something so attractive?”  
Janus started to blush at that.  
“Good, cuz I gotta go.”, Remy waved as he made his way outside, “I’ll check on you later!”  
He then closed the door, leaving the three schoolmates by themselves.  
Remus continued rummaging through the make up bag.  
“So, how’s your stay been so far?”, Janus asked.  
“Hm, the usual.”, Remus shrugged, “Some therapy here, crappy hospital food there, yadda yadda.”  
“I see...”, Janus nodded slowly.  
“Hey, close your eyes for me.”, Remus ordered, “And don’t open them until I tell you to do so.”  
“Okay...?”, Janus obeyed and closed his eyes.  
Diane, in the meantime, took a place on Remus’s pillow, watching the twin work.  
“Hey, do you like the zoo or bowling more?”, Remus then asked Janus.  
“What?”, Janus asked confused.  
“Just answer me.”  
“Hm... The zoo.”, Janus then answered the question, “They have quite an arrange of snakes.”  
“Okay, lit.”  
Remus remained quiet for the most part during the process, as he put his full concentration on the pain he applied to Janus’s face.  
Every now and again he would exchange a few words with Diane.  
Sometimes, Remus leaned in closer, probably to do some detail work. Janus only knew that because he felt the others breath slightly brushing his skin.  
And, oh god, did he wish that gap would close even further. Janus almost leaned in a few times, but managed to hold back.  
Roughly twenty minutes later, Remus announced, that he was done.  
“You can open your eyes now.”, he told Janus.  
The first thing Janus saw was himself, in the small hand mirror Remus held up.  
“Whaddya think?”, the twin asked with a wide grin.  
“Wow...”, Janus took the mirror out of Remus’s hand, to inspect the artwork he had on his face from up close, “It’s absolutely stunning.”  
The color palette was mainly blue, pink and white, ignoring the black eyeliner.  
The make up had a more artsy, drag style to it. The cheek contour went from pink to blue, the eyes were painted differently too. While the style remained the same, the colors were switched around, the brown eye sporting a combination of blue and white, and the grey being pink and white.  
Even the blond eyebrows received some color, similar to the cheek contour, they were painted in a gradient of pink and blue, with white highlights underneath, to carve out the shape more.  
Janus knew exactly why Remus chose these colors specifically.  
And he wanted to cry tears of joy.  
Something, that was the reason for some students to bully Janus for, was turned into something artistic and beautiful, which Janus could wear with pride.  
And as promised, Remus did not cover the birthmark.  
“You know, I’m surprised you even have colorful eyeshadow, D.W.”, Remus picked up a conversation while Janus was staring at himself in awe.  
“Well, I like to get experimental sometimes with make up.”, Diane explained, “Plus the palette was on sale, how could I have not buy it, ya feel me?”  
“True.”, Remus nodded in agreement, “Let’s do my face next! Both of you could work on each side, hehe.”  
“Sure.”, Diane picked up a brush.  
“Dee?”, Remus called out to the other teen boy.  
“Hm?”, Janus finally managed to look away from the mirror.  
“You wanna do the other half of my face?”, Remus asked, fully knowing that Janus hadn’t paid any attention.  
“I’m not that good with make up though.”, Janus put the mirror down, “I only know the basics.”  
“Oh, I have a fun idea!”, Diane exclaimed, “You try to imitate what I’m doing! And don’t worry, I’ll go step by step.”  
“That does sound entertaining.”, Janus smiled.  
He then gave a nod.  
“Okay, give me your worst.”  
“Oh, please!”, Remus supported that statement.

Eventually, all three teens have undergone some form of make over, finished off by a little group selfie Diane sent to the group with her phone.

Pawton: WOWIE!!! You guys look fun-tastic!✨✨✨✨  
Logan: I do have to agree with Patton. Even if I resent the pun.  
SnakeDad: And I resent the emojis.  
Pawton: Awe come on guys, you like my puns and emojis, don’t you?  
Princey: You’re having fun without me??? Unacceptable!!!  
DragonWitch: I can only have two visitors at once, ya dingus, you should know that ~Dukey  
Princey: I do, but still. Unacceptable.  
DragonWitch: Cry me a river ~Dukey  
Princey: I will do no such thing. I’m too pretty to cry.  
StormCloud: You cried at the end of Coco, man.  
Princey: That was a very emotional movie, okay?!  
StormCloud: Sure, my dude.  
DragonWitch: By the way, Lolo, could you like, come back and be my roommate again? My current one is boring as fuck ~Dukey  
Logan:... I hope you’re not being serious right now.  
DragonWitch: I’m not. But he do be boring tho. ~Dukey  
Princey: Three more weeks, you can do it!  
DragonWitch: At least I got chocolate pudding to guide me through, I actually kinda missed that treat ~Dukey  
Princey: Is Remy hiding some for you again?  
DragonWitch: Of fucking course he is, heh, I’m his favorite cousin after all ~Dukey  
Princey: Falsehood.  
StormCloud: Don’t steal Logan’s catchphrase  
Logan: Falsehood, that’s not my catchphrase.  
StormCloud: You just used it again!  
Logan: I had to dispute your statement, which had been a falsehood, so it makes sense, that I would use that word in that context.

The group kept their banter up until Remy made an appearance again.  
“Sorry guys, gotta kick you out.”, he informed Janus and Diane, “Mustache Meister has a meeting with my mans.”  
“Remy, they don’t know you’re fucking the psychiatrist.”, Remus reminded his cousin.  
“Now they do.”, Remy had a point, “Also, love the make up. I appreciate what edgy Logan has on his face.”  
“I knew you would, heh.”, Remus grinned.  
“I also have a name, you know?”, Janus raised an eyebrow.  
“Yeah, but “edgy Logan” is fun to say.”, Remy teased, “I rarely call McSmellington by his actual name either.”  
“True.”, Remus confirmed with a nod, “Using nicknames is like a Rodriguez thing to do.”  
“Rodriguez?”, Diane questioned confused.  
“My dads and his dads last names.”, Remus explained, “My family name used to be Rodriguez-Kingsley for a while.”  
“Oh, my bad.”, Diane apologized.  
“Nah, it’s fine.”, Remus waved it off with a small smile.  
“Too bad I’m a Picani now.”, Remy pointed at his name tag.  
“You’re still a Rodriguez by heart.”, Remus elaborated dramatically, placing a hand on his chest.  
“The legacy lives on, or some shit like that.”, Remy chuckled, “No, but seriously, your appointment is in ten minutes.”  
“Oh yeah, right.”, Remus got up from his bed, making room for Janus and Diane to clean up the mess the group made.  
Which was mostly just make up products and brushes laying around. Easy fix.  
“Just dunk it in.”, Diane told Janus, after he collected all the brushes.  
They hurried, so that Remus wouldn’t be late because of them.  
After throwing the last bit of cosmetics in the bag, Diane zipped it shut and got up from the bed. So did Janus.  
Remus took the opportunity to give Janus another tight hug.  
“You’ll be out here in no time, don’t worry.”, Janus cooed, patting the smaller teens head.  
“I know.”, Remus mumbled into Janus’s shoulder, “See you soon.”


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new friends joins once more.  
> Well, maybe he's not so friendly after all.
> 
> Trigger warnings: Once again I don't have the vocab-card for this one but Logan talks down on himself and has intrusive thoughts because of the past he had to endure with his parents

Usually, Roman would be out on the field practicing baseball on Wednesdays and Thursdays afternoons, but considering his state, all he could do was throw the ball, run laps, or sit everything out when the wounds hurt too much. Which usually happened faster than Roman would like to admit. He probably overdid it several times, to keep his tough image up. But eventually, he had to give out.  
So he found himself, sitting on the bench again, watching the others play a round without him. Which was a sad occurrence to everyone, as Roman became one of the top players of the team.  
Eventually, another player joined Roman on the bench.  
“You good, uhm... Antonio, it was, right?”, Roman remembered.  
Antonio was also a junior student. He was generally a pleasant person to be around, but not very outstanding in any way.   
“Yeah.”, Antonio smiled, “I’m surprised you remember my name.”  
“I’m making an effort.”, Roman chuckled, “I’m Roman by the way.”  
“I know!”, Antonio swooned, “You’re one of the best players in our team! Did you play baseball at your old school as well?”  
“It was one of the few things I could do there.”, Roman brushed his hand through his hair, “My old school wasn’t nearly as well funded as this one.”  
“Sounds boring.”  
“It was.”, Roman dropped his arm and shrugged, “But it’s in the past now. Anyways, why aren’t you training with the others?”  
“I just need a break, heh.”, Antonio nervously scratched his arm, “I... also wanted to chat a little.”  
“Oh?”, Roman perked up, “Sure, chat ahead!”  
They ended up talking for the remainder of the club meeting.  
“Okay everyone, let’s wrap it up for today!”, the trainer yelled, “Have a nice afternoon!”  
“Ah, well, seems like that’s it for today.”, Antonio sighed, “Is there a chance I could.. get your number... maybe?”  
Roman’s cheeks flushed a slight pink.  
“Of course!”, he beamed.  
After giving their good byes, Roman made his way to the front of the school, hoping to see his mothers car. He desperately needed a shower, even if he didn’t do that much sport that afternoon.  
“Yo, Princey.”, someone called him.  
Roman turned around, spotting Virgil approaching him.  
“Without Janus?”, Roman questioned with a raised eyebrow.  
“We’ll meet in the parking lot.”, Virgil shrugged, “You seem to be more sunshine-y than usual, what happened?”  
“Well, I had a very pleasant time with a very dashing fella instead of playing baseball.”, Roman explained dreamily, “We even exchanged numbers!”  
“Huh, cool.”, the smaller teen uttered, “Guess you really are that charismatic.”  
“I am!”, Roman grinned.  
“Who’s the lucky guy?”, Virgil wondered.  
“His name is Antonio.”, Roman swooned, “He’s quite shy and more in the shadows, but he’s so flippin’ cute!”  
“Never heard of him.”, Virgil shook his head, “But he can’t have good taste if he fell for you.”  
“You’re right.”, Roman agreed, to Virgil’s surprise, “He has marvelous taste!”  
“Oh my gooood.”, the emo groaned annoyed. But then chuckled. He should have expected something like that.  
“Come on, that was a good one.”, Roman laughed.  
“I will never admit that you made a good joke.”, Virgil grumbled in a fun banter.  
“You chuckled, so I take that as a win!”, Roman stroked his ego.  
“Yeah right.”, Virgil elbowed the taller teen.  
He then suddenly felt a pair of glaring eyes on the back of his head.  
He turned around, scanning the area, but failing to find anyone, who could have been staring at him.  
“Are you okay?”, Roman asked, as he noticed Virgil had been falling behind.  
“Y-Yeah...”, Virgil kept scanning, eyes darting back and forth, “I just... I think someone was watching me.”  
“Maybe it’s Janus, playing a prank on you.”, Roman shrugged.  
“Maybe, yeah.”, Virgil nodded. He started walking again, slowly, still keeping an eye on his back.  
When the pair arrived at the parking lot, they spotted Janus with Logan and Patton.  
“Uh...”, Virgil uttered.  
“I guess it wasn’t Janus after all.”, Roman spoke what Virgil had been scared of, “It probably was nothing, don’t worry.”  
“I sure hope so....”, Virgil rubbed his arm nervously.  
“Well, let’s get going then.”, Roman took a step towards the friend group, but was stopped by Virgil grabbing his shoulder.  
“Hm?”, Roman turned his head.  
“Please don’t tell them about what just happened, okay?”, Virgil whispered, “I don’t need an overprotective brother right now. He’s already protective as is.”  
“I promise I’ll keep it to myself.”, Roman smiled softly.  
They finally made their way to the other three teens, greeting them with waves and smiles.  
“Did Diane leave already?”, Roman wondered.  
“Yeah, she drove off a few minutes ago.”, Patton informed the taller teen.  
“How have your club activities been?”, Janus asked the two newcomers.  
While Roman instantly started rambling about his new crush, Virgil felt the same pair of eyes glaring at him again.  
He tried to ignore it. To his avail.  
He quickly shoved his hands down his jackets pockets, to hide the fact that his fists were so tight, that the knuckles turned white. His posture became smaller and more slouchy, his eyes darted back and forth again.  
He bit the inside of his lip, not too much, so it wouldn’t be too noticeable from the outside.  
Eventually, Virgil noticed a familiar car pulling up in the driveway. He checked who sat on the driver seat before speaking up.  
“Hey, dad is here.”; he told Janus as he walked past him and jogged towards the car.  
“Hm.”, Janus looked after his brother with a confused look, “Strange.”  
“See you tomorrow, Janus!”, Patton waved with a wide smile.  
“Have a pleasant afternoon.”, Janus nodded, “And Roman, if you happen to talk to Remus-“  
“Say hi, I know, I know.”, Roman interrupted Janus, “You’ve been reminding me every day.”  
“Thank you.”, Janus bowed before leaving as well.  
“Are you going to visit him this weekend?”, Logan asked the twin.  
“Yeah, I'll take the train.”, Roman stated.  
“Okay, good to know.”, Logan acknowledged, “Patton and I have been meaning to visit him as well, but we didn’t want to accidentally interfere with you or your family.”  
“Oh, maybe we could finally go on our museum date.”, Patton then suggested, “We keep forgetting about it, accidentally.”  
“Well, with everything that got in between, it makes sense.”, Logan elaborated, “But yes. I would love to finally go on the date with you.”  
Patton squealed with excitement, bouncing up and down on the spot.  
“I’m sure you two are going to _have a blast_.”, Roman encouraged the couple, and indirectly made a pun.  
Logan luckily didn’t catch on.  
Patton, however, did, and so the pun train started.  
“Oh, I’m sure it’s going to be _out of this world_.”, he giggled.  
“Well, I’ve seen the scrapbook, and all I can say, is that your date may be the _best in the entire galaxy!_ ”, Roman added to the pun train.  
“Could you two stop?”, Logan grew slightly annoyed at the puns.  
“Aw, what’s the matter, Teach?”, Roman chuckled, “I think the date is going to _hit like an asteroid_.”  
“We would be dead if an actual asteroid hit earth, so.”, Logan schooled the sporty teen, “Let’s not go there.”  
“You see everything so dark...”, Patton pouted, but his frowning mouth quickly broke into a grin, “Like a black hole!”  
“I’m-“, Logan exhaled frustrated.  
“Hey, you fell in love with that marshmallow.”, Roman pointed out, “So you can’t complain about the puns he cracks.”  
Logan sighed with a small smile.  
“I suppose you’re right about that.”, Logan gave his boyfriend a loving glance, which was met by equally loving eyes from Patton, before putting his attention back to Roman, “But I can complain about you.”  
“Dang nab it.”, Roman grumbled, “How come you’re so good at arguing?”  
“Middle school debate club.”, Logan said coldly, “And, well, I had to outsmart my... parents... pretty much...”  
The smart boy let out another deep and heavy sigh.  
“It was worth it.”, Patton tried cheering his partner up, “The last debate you had with them was a great success on your end if you think about it.”  
“It was, but...”, Logan fixed his glasses, “Sometimes, I wish it never had to go that far.”  
“With the way they treated you, something like that had to happen though.”, Roman added.  
“That’s not what I mean.”, Logan disputed Roman’s statement, “What I’m trying to say is... what if my parents actually cared for me? Loved me...? Or, what if Susan had given me to Mark right away? Obviously, there was a chance of me growing up with a loving family, but my patents picture perfect image was much more important to them.”  
“Family is what you make of it.”, Roman placed a hand on Logan’s shoulder, “Yes, your parents probably earned the title of “worst people to ever exist”, but they’re not your family.”  
“... What do you mean by that?”, Logan asked, avoiding eye contact.  
“Family is, who you hold dear to your heart.”, Patton threw in, “You have the best examples right in front of you! Janus, Virgil and their parents aren’t related by blood, but they still consider each other family!”  
“See?”, Roman smiled, “Same with my family. Maria may not be my and Remus’s biological mom, but she’s still our mother nonetheless.”  
“Austin and Susan aren’t your family.”, Patton wrapped his arms around Logan’s waist, “We are.”  
“Yeah!”, Roman agreed, “Listen to your future husband!”  
“Roman!”, Patton scolded the twin with flushed face, “I’m actually considering revoking your cake rights at the wedding if you don’t stop!”  
Logan gave Patton a kiss on top of his head, as that was the easiest part for him to reach at the moment.  
“Thank you.”, he whispered.

_But are you really worth it to call them your family?_

There it was again.  
The intrusive thought.  
Logan hadn’t had it for a while, and he was shocked that it made a return.  
But he mentally shook it off one again. He would bring that up with Dr. Picani.

_You don’t deserve family._

Why now?  
Logan didn’t understand why he had these thought right at that moment.

_You deserve to be alone._   
_Your parents made that crystal clear._

Logan now physically shook his head, in hopes of getting rid of the thoughts once and for all.  
He didn’t want to give his parents control over his life anymore. And while that was the case on the outside, the haunting feelings of the yearlong neglect still stuck with him.  
“Ah, dad is here!”, Patton spotted the pickup truck, “Bye Roman!”  
Patton broke the hug and grabbed Logan by his wrist, dragging him along.  
“Whoa, uh, good bye Roman!”, Logan quickly uttered as he was pulled backwards.

The feeling of not being good enough would nag on Logan later that night as well.  
Once him, Mathew and Patton arrived back home, Logan instantly made his way to his bedroom.  
He did show up again for dinner, even though he had contemplated to skip it for that day. He didn’t want to raise too much suspicion though.  
However, he didn’t have much appetite. So he only ate a small portion, which did raise some suspicion. But Logan was able to talk his way out by saying that a small appetite can happen every once and a while, and the last time he had such a small appetite had been weeks ago.  
Logan got up from his bed and sat down at his desk. He opened his laptop and turned it on.  
He’s trying to find any distraction, as he was sure Patton had been asleep.  
On top of that, he didn’t want to step in front of Patton’s eyes considering his mindset.

_Undeserving._   
_You don’t deserve love._   
_You don’t deserve Patton._

Logan rubbed his eyes and opened a web blog about constellations.  
It was his favorite blog. It was run by a hobby astrologist who kept posting about the constellations they spotted every clear night.  
And lucky for Logan, they made a new post Logan could engulf himself in.  
The more he read, the more he became excited for the upcoming date with Patton.  
It was as if the negative thoughts he had prior were gone.  
Or so he thought.

_Don’t get too excited._

“Oh for crying out loud.”, Logan rubbed his whole face with both hands, “This is unsettling. Why now?”  
He knew, those intrusive thoughts were nothing but delusions. He was fully aware that the people he surrounded himself with loved and supported him.  
But logic didn’t seem to work against his feelings at the moment.  
His knowledge had no power over his emotions.  
It tore him apart.  
He let out a frustrated sigh.  
Logan then grabbed his in ear headphones, put them in, and looked for a video on YouTube, just for the sake of being distracted somehow.

When he woke up, he found himself laying face first on the laptops keyboard.  
“Oh.”, Logan exclaimed, “I must have fallen asleep.”  
He checked the time in the corner of the screen.  
“My alarm should go off any minute now anyways.”, he thought to himself.  
Logan removed the ear plugs and stretched his arms before getting up. He took a deep breath.  
“Okay. It’s going to be alright.”, he told himself, “These are just worthless intrusive thoughts. They have no meaning behind them.”  
He was so focused on his little pep talk, that he completely forgot about his alarm clock.  
As it went off, Logan jumped.  
He quickly collected himself with a sigh.  
“Am I really that tense?”

The tension never subsided. Even with him and Patton being at school right now. A place Logan genuinely enjoyed. Usually.  
Of course he was a rare exception when it came to that. But to him, school felt more like home than his former home did. And that feeling still latched onto him, even if I was in a loving home now.  
His shoulders felt like they were on the brink of ripping away from his torso.  
Every little unexpected sound made him jump.  
“Lo?”, Patton called out to his boyfriend.  
Logan blinked a few times before reaction.  
“Yes?”, he replied, seemingly absent minded.  
“What’s on your mind?”, Patton asked innocently.  
“What do you mean?”, Logan questioned, still not fully present.  
“Just... in general.”, Patton shrugged, “You’re so quiet.”  
“Uhm.”, Logan contemplated, “I... truly don’t think this is the right place and time to talk about what’s on my mind to be honest.”  
“Oh?”, Patton now knitted his brows together in both worry and confusion, “Are you okay?”  
“I wouldn’t say I am.”  
“Let’s talk about that when we’re back home, okay?”, Patton suggested sweetly.  
“Why do you even put up with me?”, Logan asked.  
He didn’t mean to ask that.  
“H-huh?”, Patton took a step back, “What-“  
“I’m sorry.”, Logan quickly apologized, “I didn’t mean to say that.”  
“Lo-“, Patton wanted to comfort his partner, but got interrupted by Roman, approaching them.  
“Good morning!”, he greeted with a wide smile.  
“Good morning, Roman!”, Patton greeted back, seemingly brushing the current problem aside.  
“Good morning.”, Logan greeted with a nod.  
“Isn’t today a marvelous day?”, Roman asked rhetorically, not expecting an answer from either teen.  
“My, didn’t you eat a bag of sunshine this morning, hm?”, Patton chuckled.  
“Well, actually, I did get some cute good morning texts from Antonio.”, Roman beamed.  
“That’s so sweet!”, Patton cheered.  
“I really have a good feeling about this.”, the twin mused.  
“Don’t you think you’re a bit too quick to judge?”, Logan questioned.  
“Oh what do you know about romance?”, Roman ran his hand through his hair.  
“... You are aware, that I am romantically inclined with Patton, right?”, Logan pointed out.

_Even if he deserves better._

“That doesn’t count!”, Roman argued, “You two are childhood friends to lovers, that’s a totally different thing!”  
“Is it though?”, Logan raised an eyebrow.  
“Yes!”, Roman nodded aggressively, “Stop using your debate skills on me!”  
“I am merely looking out for you.”, Logan defended himself.

_But maybe he doesn’t want you to, because your opinion doesn’t matter._

“Well, thank you for that.”, Roman placed a hand on Logan’s shoulder, “But I can take care of that myself. I do have some experience in that regard.”  
“Hm.”, Logan hummed. He decided to let the topic rest for now, as the outcome wouldn’t change either way. He knew he fought a losing battle.  
Eventually, the Storm brothers made it inside the building as well.  
“Heyo.”, Virgil greeted lazily.  
“Good morning.”, Janus greeted with a nod.  
“Good morning, you two!”, Roman let go of Logan’s shoulder to use that hand to wave at the newcomers.  
“I did not expect you to... radiate such a bright energy today.”, Janus eyed the twin.  
“It’s probably Prince Charmings Prince Charming.”, Virgil mocked.  
“Oh, you think I’m charming?”, Roman asked with a wink.  
“Shut up.”, Virgil countered without missing a beat.  
Suddenly, a shudder went down the purple haired teens spine.  
The intense pair of eyes from the day prior made a return.  
He felt them.  
He felt them deeply in his core.

_Why the fuck is this happening?_

He turned around, scanning his surroundings again, like he did the day prior.  
To his avail. He couldn’t make out the source of the stare.  
“H-hey.”, Virgil turned his head back around, “I’ll be at my locker, I-I need to grab a new notebook.”  
“I will accompany you.”, Janus stated.  
“Yeah, thanks.”, Virgil rubbed his upper arm, “See you guys later.”  
As him and Janus walked away, the stare seemed to slowly disappear.  
It only seemed to pop up whenever Virgil was with his friends.  
Although, Janus seemed to have been one exception.  
Once at the locker, Virgil put his code in the lock and opened the door with a quick swing.  
A letter fell out.  
“Is that a love letter?”, Janus teased.  
“God, I hope not.”, Virgil lied.  
He’d rather have a love letter than what he thought the letter might be.  
He picked up the note and nervously fumbled with it before managing to finally get a grip of the edges and open it.  
“Stay away from him...?”, Janus read out loud, as he spied over Virgil’s shoulder.  
And, indeed, the note had “Stay away from him” in all caps written on it. Added to that were a bunch of exclamation points.  
“What is the meaning of this?”, Janus asked his brother.  
“I... don’t know.”, Virgil admitted, “I really don’t. It started yesterday, some creep is constantly staring at me. It happened earlier too, that’s why I wanted to leave.”  
“Someone’s staring at you?”, Janus questioned confused.  
“Yeah, I dunno, it’s like, I can feel a pair of glaring eyes staring at my back, but I don’t know who it is.”, Virgil explained, “But it’s fine now. It only happens when I’m with the others.”  
“Why didn’t you tell me?”, the older brother hissed, “That’s bad news!”  
“I was hoping for it to be a one off thing to be honest...”, Virgil crinkled the paper to a ball and shoved it in his jackets pocket, “Plus... you’re like... really overprotective sometimes...”  
“Obviously!”, Janus exclaimed, “I’m your brother! You would do the same thing for me!”  
Virgil grumbled.  
“Yeah...”, he admitted defeated.  
“Do you have any guesses who it might be?”, Janus was quick to jump into investigator mode.  
“Not really.”, Virgil scratched his head, “Half the school hates me, so that doesn’t really limit the options.”  
“But isn’t it strange, that those threats are happening now?”, Janus put a finger on his chin.  
“Stop playing Sherlock.”, Virgil growled.  
“I’m not playing Sherlock.”, Janus argued.  
“You literally are.”, the younger brother argued back.  
“I resent that.”, Janus shook his head, “Anyways, the timing is strange is nonetheless. Also, who are you supposed to stay away from?”  
“Uh...”, Virgil knitted his brows together, “Good question.”  
“I guess I’m going to look out a little when the staring happens again.”, Janus suggested, “When did it start?”  
Janus decided that it was time to interrogate his brother.  
“Yesterday, when I walked to the parking lot with Roman.”, Virgil replied.  
“Did it continue when you were with us?”  
“Yeah...”  
“Is it currently happening?”  
“No.”  
“So it must be either Roman, Patton or Logan the person wants you to stay away from.”  
Virgil thought about it for a moment.  
A long moment.  
He managed to get in such a deep thought, that the sound of the bell erupting scared him.  
“Oh fuck!”, Virgil wrapped his arms around his head, hiding from the sound.  
“Don’t worry, it’s just the bell.”, Janus calmed him down, “Let’s talk while we head to class.”  
Virgil dropped his arms and nodded. He closed his locker and took the lead for just a second, as Janus made an effort to quickly walk by his side.  
“Okay, Imma be honest with you.”, Virgil explained, “I have a feeling who it might be, but it would be super cliche and really dumb.”  
“If you say it like that, I may have a suspicion too.”, Janus added annoyed, “I have a feeling it has something to do with this Antonio Roman couldn’t shut up about in the group chat. Gosh, that was tiring to read.”  
“Oh, please, you’re the last one to judge a mans crush.”, Virgil tried to tease his brother for a little cheer up.  
“Have I been as annoying with my feelings about Remus?”, Janus glared, “I don’t remember if I have! Please, enlighten me.”  
“Okay, salt shaker, now you calm down.”, Virgil rolled his eyes, “But yeah. Maybe it’s Antonio.”  
“Well, that certainly is very cliche.”, Janus nodded in agreement.  
“But why me?”, Virgil wondered, “Does he see me as some sort of threat?”  
“Maybe.”, Janus shrugged, “After you and Roman made amends, you seem to be getting very close.”  
“As friends!”, the smaller teen added angrily, “Only because I like dudes doesn’t mean I can’t be friends with them. Antonio should know.”  
“Truly.”, Janus affirmed with another single nod, “You can test that theory in art class later.”  
“Great.”, Virgil grumbled.

“Hello again, my chemically imbalanced nomance!”, Roman’s voice boomed through the class room as he greeted Virgil.  
Virgil stopped sketching, as he looked up at Roman with a confused look.  
“... What?”, he asked, “How do you come up with these names?”  
“My creativity is remarkable, isn’t it?”, Roman exclaimed proudly while taking a seat.  
“Can you, like, take it down ten notches?”, Virgil asked with a slightly joking undertone.  
“Don’t dull my brilliance now, you dark and stormy night!”, Roman did his signature chest puff, “I’m feeling fantastic!”  
“Failed to notice.”, Virgil noted sarcastically.  
“Jealous?”, Roman shot Virgil a teasing look.  
“Of what?”, Virgil questioned, “Your little crush or what?”  
“Aren’t you bothered that everyone around you seems to be having some sort of romance going on?”, Roman wondered.  
“Do I look bothered to you?”, Virgil raised an eyebrow, “I’m not really a romantic person.”  
“Ah, well.”, Roman sheepishly smiled while scratching the back of his head, “That’s fair, I guess.”  
Virgil gave a shrug before continuing his sketch.

_No staring._   
_Hm._

Lunchtime rolled around, and the group of friends assembled at their usual table, with the exception of Roman.  
“Where’s Prince Cheesy?”, Diane, who decided to join the guys for today’s lunch, wondered. She usually either hung out by herself or with her band friends. But every now and again, she made an appearance at the table she was currently sitting at.  
“Beats me.”, Virgil shrugged.  
“I’m sure his appearance will go unnoticed.”, Janus remarked sarcastically.  
Patton chuckled a little, while Logan silently are his lunch.  
“Hello guys!”,  
and there he was. As if Roman had been magically summoned.  
“Told you.”, Janus smirked.  
“I brought Antonio with me!”, as Roman announced that, Virgil’s skin erupted in goosebumps.  
“Hi guys!”, Antonio waved sweetly, “Mind if I sit with you?”  
“Not at all!”, Patton smiled widely, “Take a seat!”  
“See?”, Roman whispered towards Antonio, “I told you they would be fine with that.”  
“Uh-“, Virgil nervously played with his fingers, “Uhm, Janus, you got a dollar for me? I- I wanna get some juice.”  
Janus shot Virgil a neutral look, but secretly, he was worried.  
“I would like a juice too, actually.”, Janus got up from his seat, “Let’s go together.”  
Virgil nodded aggressively as he got up, ready to leave.  
“Wait!”, Antonio called out, “I need to get some lunch for myself, can I join?”  
The Storm brothers glanced at each other and then back at Antonio.  
“Come on!”, Roman complained. He already took his seat, as he brought lunch from home, “Don’t be so mean to him!”  
“We’re not mean.”, Janus corrected, “But... fine. Tag along.”  
“What the f-“, Virgil mouthed before he was grabbed by the shoulders and pushed away from the group.  
“Just play along.”, Janus whispered with his jaw clenched.  
The brothers, silently followed by the newcomer, made their way to the buffet of high school food.  
If one could call it that that was.  
“So.”, Janus tried picking up a conversation with Antonio, to ease Virgil’s anxiety, “How-“  
“Shut up.”, Antonio snapped at Janus, which caused the latter to take not one, but three steps back. Roman had mentioned in the group chat, that Antonio was rather shy and polite. The blond boy did absolutely not expect for Antonio to be snappy like that.  
“Excuse me?”, Janus asked repulsed.  
“You heard me.”, Antonio glared the blond teen down.  
Janus downright felt the glare in his core.  
“... Are you fucking kidding me?”, Virgil hissed, “You’re really that kind of person?”  
“You.”, Antonio turned his head towards Virgil, “You better stay away from Roman from now on.”  
“So it really was you!”, Virgil exclaimed loudly, “It’s as if you literally jumped out of a shitty romance drama movie!”  
“Listen, I just don’t want you to interfere with me and Roman okay?”, Antonio explained himself.  
“Him and I are just friends, you moron!”, Virgil argued angrily, “Leave me the fuck alone!”  
“Not until you leave Roman alone!”, Antonio pressed, “I notice how you flirt with him!”  
“You- I-“, baffled didn’t even come close when it comes to Virgil’s state.  
It probably needed every word in the dictionary close to the word baffled.  
“This is what I get when I try to make friends, huh?”, Virgil uttered to himself, “Fine! Whatever! Just leave me alone!”  
Virgil sped off, leaving the cafeteria. The anxiety had fully taken over.  
“Heh, he didn’t even try.”, Antonio, with a smug smile, triumphantly crossed his arms in front of his chest.  
“You really didn’t need to do that.”, Janus scolded the other teen boy.  
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.”, Antonio put his attention back to Janus, “You have your own problems, don’t you Janus? What are you gonna do? Tell Roman? I’m sure he’ll believe you.”  
The last sentence came out rather sarcastic than sincere.  
And it bugged Janus.  
“Oh, yeah, Roman told me all about you guys.”, Antonio tilted his head a little, “Afraid?”  
“He might not believe me. But in time, he’ll see what kind of a person you really are.”, Janus warned Antonio.  
The taller teen then took a few steps forward, staying away mere inches from the others.  
“Leave Virgil alone.”, Janus growled, “Or we’re going to have a big problem. Understood?”  
“Well, is he going to do what I told him to?”, the smaller teen asked.  
Janus remained quiet for a moment.  
He huffed and left Antonio’s question unanswered, as he turned on his heel and left the cafeteria.  
Janus had a hunch to as where his brother might have been. He dashed outside and made his way to the hide out. And indeed Virgil sat there, hood pulled up, headphones plugged in. He saw Janus approaching in his peripheral, so he took one earbud out.  
“I don’t even wanna know what else happened.”, he instantly shut Janus down, before he had a chance to speak.  
“Understandably so.”, Janus took a seat on the grass, “But Roman is going to learn about the truth one way or another.”  
“What do I care?”, Virgil pulled his legs close to his chest and hugged them. He sounded hurt, but didn’t want to fully show it.  
“I don’t know, what you care exactly.”, Janus noted, “But I know that you care a lot.”  
“I... don’t.”, Virgil clearly lied.  
“You can’t lie to me.”, Janus reminded his sibling, “I can see right through you.”  
Virgil remained quiet, aggressively avoiding eye contact.  
He broke his silence with a sigh.  
“I hate to admit it, but I was quite... happy, I guess, to have a few more friends for once.”, he admitted, “And, as cheesy at it sounds, I got along best with Roman, even with the arguments. But once they were resolved, we got along just fine. I’m not allowed to have friends for once in my damn life, now do I?”  
“I take that as you don’t want to endure this... conflict.”, Janus pointed out.  
“Of course!,” Virgil yelled annoyed, “Do I look like I have the nerve to deal with a weirdo like Antonio?! Fuck that!”  
“Virgil!”  
Both Storm brothers were surprised to suddenly hear Roman’s voice echo behind them.  
“So you really were mean towards Antonio!”, the twin scolded. He had Antonio with him, how had been... crying?  
“What?!”, Virgil asked confused, “What are you talking about?!”  
“Antonio told me you two were pretty mean to him!”, Roman explained angrily.  
“Y-yeah...”, Antonio sniffled.  
“You’ve got to be kidding me...”, Janus uttered.  
“Okay, listen.”, Virgil got up from his seat on the ground, “He was the one who kept staring at me!”, he pointed at Antonio, “He even put a note in my locker, telling me to stay away from you!”  
“That’s not true!”, Antonio defended himself, “I don’t even know where your locker is!”  
“Oh really?!”, Virgil screamed, “Then what was that about in the cafeteria literally minutes ago? Huh? Just a funny little coincidence?!””  
“You were the ones who insulted me! You said I will never be part of your friend group!”  
“That never fucking happened! You see me as a threat, that doesn’t even exist!”  
“You obviously see me as a threat only because I made my move before yours!”  
“What move?! Do you really think I would have a crush on someone like Roman?!”  
Wrong wording.  
Virgil realized instanly, that he just made a mistake.  
His eyes grew wide in shock.  
“I-I didn’t mean-“, Virgil stuttered.  
“So this is what you think of me?”, Roman, clearly hurt, asked, “ _Someone_ like _me_?  
“Roman, I really didn’t-“  
“I guess it’s save to assume Antonio is the one telling the truth here.”, Roman interrupted Virgil.  
“Are you seriously siding with someone you’ve known for a day and a half?”, Janus chimed in.  
“Well, I’m definitely not siding with you!”, Roman spat, “Let’s go, Antonio.”  
“Mhm.”, Antonio nodded innocently.  
When Romans back was turned towards the teen, he took the chance and shot the Storm brothers a mischievous smirk.  
“That son of a bitch.”, Janus uttered to himself.  
“I guess it’s just you and me until Remus comes back.”, Virgil sighed, “Unless Roman somehow manages to get him on his side too.”  
“No.”, Janus argued, eerily calm, “Antonio will slip up eventually. Living in a lie is only temporary.”


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I mentioned a few chapters ago, that I will stop posting daily once I hit the end of what I've written so far.  
> Well. I reached the end lmao  
> So I will take a break from posting for a little while to write more chapters. 
> 
> Date time with Logan and Patton! Also Roman visits Remus in the hospital.
> 
> Trigger Warnings: mentions of non-con/r*pe, mentions of underage drug abuse,

Back home, Logan instantly went up to his room, but was quickly followed by Patton.  
“Hey, don’t just run and hide from me!”, the smaller teen whined, “We need to talk!”  
“I... forgot we were planning to do this.”, Logan lied, “Come in then.”  
He held the door open, with a slight reluctant feeling in his body.  
“So.”, Patton swung his arm back and forth, facing his boyfriend, “What’s going on in that smart head of yours?”  
Logan closed the door slowly, not managing to even slightly glance at Patton. The taller boy left his hand on the handle as the door clicked into the lock.  
“I’m..”, Logan gulped, “I’m not sure if I can talk about this properly. I don’t know where to start really.”  
“Maybe with your little slip up from earlier?”, Patton stopped his arms from swinging any longer, “What did you mean by why am I keeping up with you?”  
“Lately, I haven’t been feeling... deserving of love, I would say.”, Logan admitted, “Meeting Mark just made it more evident that I clearly wasn’t meant for being lovable.”  
“What-?”, Patton looked at his partner confused.  
Mark had been so kind and open, he didn’t quite get Logan’s thought process.  
“That one meeting with him essentially showed me what I could have had.”, Logan finally returned Patton’s gaze, “I could have had a loving family. But instead, I ended up with Susan and Austin, all the while “option B” had been present the entire time.”  
“Logan, remember what Diane said?”, Patton gave a comforting smile, “We’re your family now. And all of us even affirmed it. We love you, Logan.”  
“I know that.”, Logan averted his gaze again, “I... know that.”, he ran his free hand through his hair, “My point is, that I don’t deserve your love. At least, something’s telling me I don’t.”  
“But you do.”, Patton slowly walked towards the troubled teen, “You deserve our love.”  
Once close enough, Patton carefully grabbed Logan’s hand, stroking the back with his thumb. Which made Logan lock eyes with the dark blond boy again.  
Logan’s eyes were filled with frustration and confusion, but that quickly subsided once Patton gave a warm smile.  
“It’s going to take a while for that feeling to fully subside.”, Patton noted softly, “A lot of times, you need to remind yourself that you’re loved and that you’re fully deserving of love. I know I’m here to remind you daily, if I have to.”  
“Why?”, Logan questioned, “Why would you do that though?”  
“There’s, like, a billion-trillion-gazillion reasons why!”, Patton grabbed Logan’s other hand, which had been loosely resting on the door handle, and pulled him to the middle of the room, making a few spins.  
When they came to a halt, Patton let go of the hands and wrapped his arms around Logan’s torso. He looked up, his face just mere inches away from Logan’s.  
Logan looked back down, wrapping his arms around the others waist. He leaned down, eyes closed, his forehead coming in touch with Patton’s.  
The couple felt each other’s silent breaths grace by their faces.  
“That’s a lot of reasons, I must say.”, Logan chuckled. He originally wanted to point out how “billion-trillion-gazillion” in that combination wasn’t a real number, but he decided to play along, as that seemed to give him more comfort.  
“That’s how much I love you.”, Patton sung, starting to swing his body from side to side a little bit.  
“I love you too.”, Logan closed the gap between their faces a little, causing the tips of their noses to touch, “Thank you so much for being in my life.”  
He then leaned into a soft kiss, closing the gap entirely.  
With a smile, Patton reciprocated the kiss, deepening it just a little.  
Logan broke the kiss after a few seconds, only to plant a few more small kisses around Patton’s face, which made the latter giggle.  
“You never fail to cheer me up.”, Logan said in between two kisses on the left cheek.  
“Hehe, it’s my specialty!”, Patton grinned, “But it’s okay if you still feel down.”  
“Well...”, Logan stopped his spoiling with kisses and loosened the hug a little, so that he could look Patton in the face properly, “I still feel like I don’t deserve any of this. Quite frankly, the ideas of breaking up with you and moving out have crossed my mind.”  
Patton’s eyes grew with shock.  
“What-“  
“I’m not going to do either, don’t worry.”, Logan claimed his partner down, “It was more of less the feeling of you deserving better and me not deserving the love and shelter your family is giving me.”  
“There’s no one better than you.”, Patton cupped Logan’s cheek.

_Are you sure about that?_

“Hmpf.”, Logan breathed through his nose in frustration.  
“What?”, Patton asked out of concern.  
“Just, the thoughts again.”, Logan shook his head lightly, “They’re frustrating me quite a bit.”  
“Understandable.”, Patton nodded, “Intrusive thoughts are really annoying. But they’ll fade out eventually. Oh, that reminds me, we’re still going on our date tomorrow, right?”  
Logan gave a small smile.  
“Of course.”

The bus came to a halt in front of the museum.  
With a fuss chuckle, Patton hopped out of the back doors of the bus once they had fully opened.  
Logan on the other hand took the calm approach. Not that he wasn’t excited, he highly anticipated the date ever since it was brought up. Even with the intrusive thoughts that made a sudden appearance.  
“Come on!”, Patton jumped up and down excitedly, “Otherwise we’re going to miss the guided tour!”  
“There is still plenty of time left.”, Logan noted with a smile.  
He never expected Patton to be so excited that he wanted to be punctual.  
“Yeah, I know, but we have to get the tickets, and then walk to the observatory, and get with the group-“  
“We’ll get there on time, I promise.”, Logan grabbed Patton’s hand and guided him towards the entrance.  
Even though Patton insisted on paying for the tickets entirely, Logan said he was fine with paying for his own. With a pout, Patton agreed.  
They made their way up to the third floor, where the observatory and the astronomy exhibition had been located. Both of them, considering neither of them did sports, were pretty out of breath when they arrived, but they chuckled that off rather quickly.  
“Look, some people are already waiting for the tour to start!”, Patton pointed out, “Let’s join them!”  
Patton wrapped his arms around Logan’s upper arm and guided him towards the group.  
“Tour starts in 15 minutes!”, the tour guide announced as the couple of boys made it to the group.  
“See?”, Logan noted softly, “We’re early. There was no need to worry.”  
“Hehe, I know.”, Patton snuggled closer, “I just wanted to make sure we’re on time.”  
“And I appreciate the effort.”, Logan smiled.  
He gave the smaller boy a kiss on the forehead. He kept his focus on Patton, until a tugging on his sleeve broke that focus. Logan turned his head, spotting a smaller figure next to him.  
“Oh, Cass.”, Logan exclaimed, “Salutations.”  
“Hi Cass!”, Patton waved with his free hand.  
“Yo.”, Cass lazily waved back, “Didn’t expect you to be here, heh.”  
“Likewise.”, Logan countered, “I never expected you to be interested in astronomy.”  
“I usually just come here to escape reality for a bit, I guess.”, Cass scratched their neck, “Stars and constellations are kinda magical if you ask me.”  
“That’s so cute!”, Patton cheered wholeheartedly.  
“What brings you here?”, Cass wondered, “You’re on a date or something?”  
“We are.”, Logan nodded, “We’re waiting for the tour to start.”  
“I don’t wanna bother you too much then.”, Cass said slightly disappointed.  
Logan took note of that, so did Patton. They exchanged a quick glance, silently communicating if they should ask if Cass was doing okay. Patton gave a short nod.  
“Cass.”, Logan put his attention back to his sibling, “Are you alright?”  
“Yeah, yeah.”, Cass waved it off, “I just... had a rough week in school. I was hoping to maybe spend some time with you to distract myself or something. But I don’t wanna get in between your date!”  
Logan felt like he was stuck in a little dilemma. He wanted to help Cass out and build a proper brother-sibling bond. But at the same time, he didn’t want to disappoint Patton after they already had to push the space themed date back.

_Do they even want your help?_

Not to mention the intrusive thoughts were still present and were now attacking him for trying to be a good older sibling.  
“Uhm...”, Logan contemplated, eyes darting around not being able to find a spot to focus on.  
“If you want, you can come with us after our date and hang out at our place.”, Patton then suddenly suggested, “We can bake cookies together if you want!”  
“Oh, uh...”, Cass timidly started playing with their fingers, “That would be cool. I’m not good at baking though. Last time I made muffins they turned into coal.”  
“Hey, I managed to teach Logan how to bake, I’m sure I can teach you too!”, Patton smiled at the younger teen.  
“Awesome.”, Cass smiled a little, “Can’t wait.”  
“We were planning on taking the bus back home at 3:15 P.M. .”, Logan filled in, “How about we meet outside at 3 P.M. ?”  
“Sure.”, Cass nodded, “I’ll just shoot dad a text, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled that I’m spending time with my brother, heh.”  
“That sounds like a good plan.”, Logan affirmed.  
“Well, imma leave you be now, enjoy your date.”, Cass waved as they left the couple alone.  
Logan let out a breath he’d been holding unconsciously.  
“Are you okay?”, Patton asked.  
“I got overwhelmed for a moment.”, Logan admitted right away, “I didn’t know what to do. You must have noticed that.”  
“I did.”, Patton confirmed, “That’s why I suggested that little meet up idea for later! Although on hindsight, that was pretty selfish...”  
“Is there a problem with that?”, Logan wondered, “We already had to postpone our romantic gathering, so it’s quite understandable that you don’t want to push it back again.”  
“But...”, Patton bit his lip for a second, “Well, I guess you’re right.”  
“No, please.”, the taller boy uttered softy, “Tell me.”  
“I don’t wanna ruin our date...”, Patton looked onto his feet, slightly shuffling from side to side.  
“Would you be okay with talking about this once we’re back home, after Cass has visited?”, Logan suggested. Patton contemplated for a bit, but then silently nodded.  
The tour finally started. The young lady was showing the group around the exhibition, giving basic details about each individual station. What was highly fascinating for Patton, wasn’t new to Logan. But he enjoyed the tour nonetheless, more so for the fact that he liked the sparkle in Patton’s eyes when he got excited or pleasantly surprised.  
The tour went about an hour. When the guide said good bye to the guests, the group disbursed, most people leaving the observatory to check out other exhibitions the museum had to offer. The remaining guests scattered around the room, checking out some of the displays in detail.  
Patton and Logan were part of the latter group. They made their way towards a pc tablet, on which they could check neat space facts in detail and look at pictures NASA themselves provided.  
“Did you enjoy it?”, Patton asked while mindlessly scrolling through the tablet.  
“It was quite enjoyable, yes.”, Logan nodded, “Although I already knew the facts the guide told us. She did a great job though.”  
“Yeah, I think so too!”, Patton chuckled, “Although I only knew a handful of the things she had mentioned.”  
“You always learn new things every day.”, Logan noted.  
“Hey, how about I pop up a random picture and you tell me a cool fact I don’t know yet?”, Patton then suggested. He mainly wanted to hear Logan ramble about the things he’s invested in.  
“Okay.”, Logan agreed with a nod, “Go right ahead.”  
“Alrighty!”, Patton checked the topics on screen, finger hovering back and forth, tongue sticking out slightly, and decided to start with star constellations. He went to the pictures and randomly picked one with a tap.  
“What about this one?”, he asked his boyfriend.  
Logan leaned over a little, inspecting the picture. It took him maybe two seconds to recognize the constellation. He gave a confident nod and a smirk.  
“That’s the Hydra constellation.”, he explained, “It’s the largest constellation out of the 88 constellations that exist. It takes up to 3.16% of the sky.”  
“Is that a lot?”, Patton wondered.  
“Well, in the grand scheme of things, not exactly. Space keeps expanding as is. But for us and the amount we can see of the night sky with our naked eye, it’s quite a lot.”  
“Wowie!”, Patton breathed with excitement, “What’s the smallest constellation then?”  
“The Crux constellation.”, Logan swiftly looked for a picture of said constellation on the touchscreen, “It takes up only 0.17% of the sky.”  
“Compared to Hydra, that is itty bitty.”, Patton chuckled.  
“I have a fact you might enjoy.”, Logan closed the picture of the Crux and swiped through the gallery. He then stopped at a picture of a dog. Patton gasped.  
“Space puppy!”, he squealed.  
“I’m surprised the tour guide didn’t mention her.”, Logan pointed out, “This is Laika. She was the first living being, that was sent to space.”  
“Aww.”, Patton swooned, “What a good girl!”  
Logan kept the fact, that Laika didn’t make it for too long to himself. It would sadden Patton too much.  
They kept bantering for a few more minutes before deciding to move on to other displays and check those out in detail. Until Patton checked his phone.  
“Ah! We have to head to the observatory!”, he pointed out.  
“We do?”, Logan questioned confused.  
“Yeah!”, Patton showed Logan the time with his phone, “I made a reservation when I got the tickets earlier, it’s almost time!”  
He grabbed the taller boy by the hand and proceeded to drag him along as he made a dash to the observatory.  
“I’m actually really excited check out the observatory!”, Patton breathed while running, “I’ve never actually looked through one.”  
“Me neither.”, Logan shook his head, “I never had the chance to.”  
Once they arrived outside the observatory, they took a moment to catch their breath. Breathing heavily, Patton retrieved his phone once more and checked the time again.  
“Ha!”, he exclaimed breathless, “Right on time!”  
Logan, as he tried to calm his breathing, fixed his glasses and smiled.  
“I’ve never seen you this punctual before.”, he pointed out.  
“Yeah-heh- I know.”, Patton chuckled, slowly regaining a steady breath, “I’m making an effort this time.”  
“Well then.”, now Logan was the one to grab Patton’s hand and guide him, “Let’s head in, shall we?”  
Patton looked up, slightly perplexed by Logan’s little gesture. He then nodded excitedly.  
They made their way towards the door to the observatory. The tour guide from earlier was watching it. She held a clip board in her hand.  
“Hello you two!”, she greeted with a wave, “Weren’t you part of the tour earlier?”  
“We were!”, Patton grinned, “You did an awesome job showing us around! Thank you so much!”  
“Well, I sure am glad you liked it.”, the guide smiled back, “Do you have a reservation for the observatory?”  
“We do!”, Patton nodded happily, “Hart, two people.”  
“One second...”, the woman checked the board that had the list of reservations clipped to it, “Hmmm... Ah, there you are! Right on time!”  
She opened the door and took a step aside.  
“You gave 30 minutes until the next group comes around.”, she informed the teens, “Have fun! If you have questions, we have an astronomy professor who will gladly answer them.”  
“Thank you!”, the couple thanked the lady simultaneously.  
Once inside, the guide closed the door, leaving Patton and Logan be.  
“Wow...”, Patton gasped impressed.  
Logan remained quiet. However, his expression gave away fully how excited he had been.  
Cheeks flushed red, eyes wide and sparkling with joy, mouth slightly agape.  
“Welcome!”, an older man, he had a name tag attached to the chest pocket of his button up, greeted the teens, “I’m the astronomy professor of the museum and I’m here to help you with the telescope and answer questions.”

And before the couple knew it, the 30 minutes were over. It was almost 3 P.M., meaning it was time for them to leave, unless they wanted to keep Cass waiting.  
They made their way outside the space exhibition.  
“I hope you enjoyed yourself.”, Patton wondered.  
“I did. Thoroughly.”, Logan gave the smaller boy a kiss on the left temple, “The date was perfect. It was worth the wait.”  
“I’m glad.”, Patton smiled sweetly.  
He wrapped his arms around Logan’s upper arm, snuggling close.  
Steps in sync, the couple left the building, beelining through the small crowd of people.  
Logan kept an eye out for Cass. He checked his surroundings as best as he could, but didn’t manage to find them. He concluded that they might be inside still, or at the bus station already. So he guided himself and Patton to the bus station, in hopes of finding Cass.  
And luckily, once Logan and Patton made it around the corner to the bus station, Cass stood there, nodding their head to the beat of the music they had been listening to through their earphones.  
“There they are.”, Logan notified Patton.  
“Hey Cass!”, the latter greeted loudly with a wave. It was loud enough for Cass to notice.  
“Hey guys.”, they waved back, removing one plug from the ear, “How was your date?”  
“Perfect.”, Logan smiled as he stopped walking, “How was your remainder of the day?”  
“Neato.”, Cass gave a thumbs up, “The astronomy exhibition is always nice to wander around aimlessly.”  
“Did you text Mark already?”, Logan wondered.  
“You can call him dad, y’know.”, Cass reassured with a smile, “But yeah, I did. He’ll stop by later. I just need to give him the address.”  
“O-Of course.”, Logan stuttered with a nod. He cleared his throat nervously.  
He never called anyone “dad” before, not even Austin.  
Having a proper father figure in his life was an alien concept to Logan.  
He will get used to it though. At least, that’s what he hoped for.

Roman left the train with a pep in his step. He whistled a happy tune while taking a walk to the hospital. He seemed to have been in a very good mood, despite what happened between him, Virgil and Antonio.  
Eventually, he made it to the hospital, swiftly entering it the building as the sliding doors wooshed open.  
“Good evening!”, he greeted loudly and wholeheartedly.  
“Remus!”, Remy, who had reception duty, exclaimed in shock, obviously joking, “How did you get out of your room? And why did you come back?”  
“Oh, stop it, you.”, Roman chuckled, as he made his way to his cousin.  
“You seem to be doing fine.”, Remy took a sip from his mug, “I heard that you got yourself in a bit of a brawl.”  
“Obviously.”, Roman gestured to his face. The little stitch he had gotten on his forehead would most likely turn into a little scar, and his black eye had turned yellow and green. He refused to cover it with make up, as it was a sign of his heroism. Even if that conflicted with his liking to look perfect. His ego was never really satisfied.  
“Well, as stupid as that was, you really did something good there.”, Remy smiled with a nod.  
“Did Remus tell you the story?”, Roman wondered.  
“Of course he did.”, the nurse stated, “He was pretty pissed that you risked your life like that.”  
“I know, I know.”, Roman sighed, “But someone had to help him. He was clearly too shocked to defend himself.”  
“If I were in his position, I’d be shocked too.”, Remy affirmed, “Especially considering when you expect to never see a person like that dude ever again. I hope you guys are bringing him to court though.”  
“We will.”, Roman nodded, “But we can only really do something about him attacking us.”  
“And the rape?”, Remy asked appalled.  
“We... don’t have any proof of that anymore.”, Roman scratched his neck defeated with a suspicious break, “Remus trashed his old phone beyond recognition.”  
“You can still recover data.”, Remy pointed out, “Something must be done about this!”  
“Hmmm...”, the twin hummed in an uncomfortable tune, “To be honest, and don’t tell anyone, I still kept the remains of Remus’s old phone.”  
“You did?!”, Remy got up from his seat.

_“Remus, stop!”, Roman held his brother back._   
_“It’s all or nothing!”, Remus tried to free himself from Romans grip, “I gotta burn this thing!”_   
_“Logan clearly said you can’t do that!”, the cleaner twin argued, “It wouldn’t do much, it’s already blown to bits!”_   
_“Did he ever try to burn a phone?”, Remus turned his head, glaring at his twin, “I don’t think so!”_   
_“Remus!”, Roman yelled, “It’s enough!”_   
_The pair of siblings stared each other down, until one of them gave up. Which had been Remus. He groaned._   
_“Fine!”, he admitted defeat, “I won’t burn it.”_   
_“Good.”, Roman let go of Remus, “You probably would have either hurt yourself or burned the house down, to be completely honest.”_   
_“You act as if I don’t know how to properly commit arson.”, Remus raised an eyebrow._   
_“Still.”, Roman made his way past his twin, and stared picking up the bits of scrap metal, “We just moved in, we don’t need fire damage.”_   
_“What are you doing?”, Remus questioned._   
_“I’ll take care of your phone.”, Roman looked at the few bits he already had in his hand, “Well, whatever is left of it. Could you grab me a dustpan? It’s under the kitchen sink.”_   
_“Sure.”, Remus made his way to the kitchen. Considering he didn’t know where anything had been placed, it took him a little while to find the dustpan. But eventually, he found it, in the far back of the cupboard below the kitchen sink._   
_“There you go.”, he threw the pan and hand broom next to Roman._   
_“Thank you.”, Roman dropped the bits he had in his hand onto the pan and continued to dust the smaller pieces he couldn’t pick up by hand, “I’ll get rid of it for you, if that’s fine.”_   
_“Well, as long as I don’t have to deal with that bullshit anymore, I don’t care.”, Remus shrugged._   
_“You have to deal with our moms scolding you though.”, Roman pointed out._   
_“Fuck.”, Remus gave himself a facepalm._

_Once Roman was done with getting every bit of phone out of the furnace, he made his way to the kitchen, ready to dunk the broken pieces into the trash._   
_“Hm...”, he looked at the contents of the pan in his hand._

**_I have a bad feeling about this._ **   
**_I shouldn’t get rid of the pieces just yet._ **   
**_They could be important..._ **

_He decided to keep the phone for now. He got a plastic lunch box from a cupboard and carefully filled it with the dirt from the cleaning device._   
_“Okay...”, he breathed, “Let’s hide that somewhere...”_

“I can’t really explain it, but something told me I should keep the remains just in case.”, Roman admitted, “I hoped we wouldn’t need the evidence, but I kept it nonetheless. And I’ll probably hand it over to the police. With Remus’s approval of course.”  
“Please do.”, Remy plead, “It’s so damn awful, that that stuff happened to him in the first place.”  
“I’ll talk to Remus about that first.”, Roman decided.  
“Good.”, Remy nodded, “But try and talk to him in a way that won’t send him back to relapse. He shouldn’t need to be here for too long.”

Remus was on his way to his room. He just spend the time in the community room, crafting some bracelets. It wasn’t Kandi, but it was something crafty nonetheless.  
“Remus!”, someone called out to him.  
The twin turned around and spotted his brother coming towards him.  
“I knew I smelled unicorn farts and cotton candy vomit.”, he teased Roman.  
“Oh, shut it, heh.”, Roman chuckled, “How are you?”  
“Fine, I guess.”, Remus shrugged. He turned around and started walking again once Roman had caught up.  
“It’s boring as usually.”, Remus added, “Your face is also starting to become boring again.”  
“Well, excuse me that bruises heal and don’t stay forever.”, Roman jokingly apologized, “What have you been up to?”  
“I just got back from arts’n’crafts with some other patients. We made bracelets.”  
“At least you have some ways to entertain yourself.”, Roman gave his brother a pat on the back.  
“I wish I was back home.”, Remus complained.  
“Understandable.”, Roman gave an apologetic smile, “Two more weeks.”  
“Two more hellish weeks until I can go on that date with Dee.”, Remus muttered.  
He suddenly stopped walking, him and Roman made it to his room.  
“How’s that roommate of yours doing?”, Roman wondered.  
“Beats me. I hardly talk to him.”, Remus said while opening the door. He left it open for Roman to follow.  
“Is he really that boring?”, Roman chuckled while closing the door behind him.  
“Yeah.”, Remus threw himself onto his bed, “Logan was much more fun to be around. Even if he is a huge nerd.”  
“Well, so are you, so it evens out.”, Roman sat down on the foot end of the bed.  
“Hm...”, Remus hummed disgruntled.  
“Speaking of Janus and Logan, they and the others say hi.”, Roman told his brother in hopes of cheering him up.  
“As always, heh.”, which seemed to work, “What a bunch of dorks. How are our parents doing?”  
“Ah, well, they’re a bit more protective than usual after, you know. We also still have to deal with  
the police.”, Roman waved away the figurative thick air, “But they’re otherwise fine.”  
“Octo?”  
“As wobbly as ever.”  
“That’s what I wanted to hear.”, Remus nodded contently, “But what’s gonna happen now? Y’know, with the charges or whatever.”  
“Ah, well...”, Roman scratched his neck, “Logan, Patton and I were able to press charges but...”  
The twin took a deep breath.  
“We need to talk about what that guy did to you in the past.”  
Remus needed a second to register what his identical twin just said.  
He sat up, glaring at Roman with slight confusion in his eyes.  
“Whaddya mean?”, he asked.  
“Please, please promise me to not freak out on me.”  
“Roman, what the fuck did you do?”  
“Remus, please.”  
“...”, Remus rolled his eyes with a sigh and held out his pinky, “Pinky promise, I won’t murder you for whatever you’re about to say.”  
Roman hooked his pinky in with a nod.  
“Okay, now spill the beans.”, Remus let go of the pinky promise and crossed his arms.  
“I talked to Remy about this.”, Roman started, “He told me we should take that chance and also press charges against that guy for... raping... you.”  
Roman had a hard time saying these words.  
“I mean, would anyone even believe it was rape if I gave my okay?”, Remus muttered.  
“Wha- Of course!”, Roman exclaimed shocked, “You’re a minor! He isn’t! He even drugged you!”  
“Nah, I drugged myself.”, Remus argued weakly, “That’s why I allowed him to fuck me in the first place. Plus, it would be be a waste of time anyways, there’s no proof that it happened.”  
“There is...”, the sporty twin admitted with a sunken head, “I... kept the parts of your old phone. I’m sure the data can still be retrieved.”  
“You-“, Remus was ready to snap at his brother, but remembered the promise he made mere minutes ago. So he took a very deep breath to calm his nerves.  
“You are an absolute moron.”, he then insulted Roman, calmly, “Stop putting yourself in danger for me like that. I’m not worth that risk.”  
“But if we report that-“  
“He isn’t the only one who treated me this way!”, Remus interrupted the other teen, “Andy is dangerous, and he knows ways to harm people, even if he ends up in jail! I can’t afford losing any one of you!”  
“You won’t!”, Roman shouted, “I promise you, you won’t!”  
“This isn’t some dumb fanfiction, where everything ends well for the protagonists!”, Remus argued, raising his voice, “It’s best to just leave it at the assault charges!”  
“Remus, please!”, Roman begged, “You can’t just keep running away from your problems forever!”  
“Watch me try.”, Remus countered, a little calmer now.  
“I did, and you’ve been doing this for too long. It’s time to take action.”, Roman then concluded, “You always denied our help, but not this time, mister.”  
“Again, I don’t want any of you to be in danger because of me.”, Remus fell back on his bed, mainly because that was the easiest way to avoid eye contact with Roman, “But you promised nothing is going to happen to you. So.”, Remus tucked his arms under his head, “What’s the game plan?”  
“I will bring the bits of broken phone to the police tomorrow.”, Roman explained, “That’s all I got for now though.”  
“Great plan, my dude.”, Remus complimented sarcastically, “Such smart.  
Much thoughtful.”  
“Well, that’s all I can really do for now, isn’t it?”  
“Okay, true.”, Remus agreed, “But let’s talk about something else now, I’m done with that topic. How’s the hellhole called high school been?”  
“Oh, marvelous!”, Roman instantly beamed, “There is this dashing fella I’ve been seeing lately. His name is Antonio, he’s in the baseball club as well.”  
“I’m gone for two weeks and you’re out there getting a new bf?”, Remus questioned slightly offended.  
“I wouldn’t say we’re quite boyfriends...”, Roman admitted flustered, “... yet.”  
Remus let out a disgusted “ew”, clearly making a mockery of his brother.  
“Anyways.”, Remus then held up a finger, “If he pulls some dumb shit, you know what’s gonna happen to him.”  
“I don’t think anything bad will happen this time around.”, Roman said confidently, “Antonio is perfect!”  
“Is he now?”, Remus had his doubts, “Knowing you, you just have rose colored glasses on.”  
“What is it with you guys talking down my interest in Antonio?”, Roman asked offended.  
“Hm, whaddya mean?”, Remus shot his brother a confusing glance.  
“Virgil and Janus don’t seem to get along with him.”, Roman elaborated, “They even bullied him for no reason.”  
“What-?”, Remus brows knitted together.  
He didn’t expect the Storm brothers to be that ruthless. He knew they weren’t that ruthless. Why should two teens, that have been bullied themselves, and usually kept distance to others, suddenly bully someone else? They hated conflicts, so why cause them? Remus’s intuition told him, that something fishy was up, which Roman clearly didn’t see.  
“Are you sure they bullied him?”, he asked.  
“Antonio told me so in tears!”, the other twin raged overly dramatic.  
“And what was the reason for why they did it?”, Remus still didn’t quite believe Roman’s claims.  
“I don’t know!”, Roman spat, “Antonio said it’s because they don’t want to be friends with him. I think it’s jealousy.”  
“Jealousy.”, Remus repeated.  
“Yes, jealousy!”, Roman pressed, “I think Virgil likes me more than just a friend and hates it that I’m with someone else now! And of course, Janus would support his brother in that regards.”  
“Okay, okay, okay, hold up.”, Remus waved with his hands as he sat up once more, “Have you gone fully nuts while I was gone?”  
“What?”, Roman questioned bewildered, “It’s a valid theory! He got really defensive when Antonio pointed that out! It got so far that Virgil even insulted me!”  
“Well, that I can believe.”, Remus nodded, “But everything else sounds absolutely and utterly demented. And that’s coming from me. I’m sorry, but I have to see that for myself to believe that.”, Remus shook his head.  
“Why is that so unbelievable?!”, Roman complained.  
“Well, for one, Virgil and Janus aren’t really confrontational.”, Remus pointed out, “You should know that.”  
“Oh, right.”, Roman huffed sarcastically, “Because the conflicts we had with them weren’t confrontational at all!”  
“You do realize, that we were usually the ones to unintentionally start the conflicts, right?”, Remus raised an eyebrow.  
“Why are you so insistent on defending them?”, Roman angrily glared at his twin, “Why won’t you believe me?”  
“Listen, I don’t know that Antonio dude.”, Remus defended himself, “Maybe you are in the right, but for now I can’t believe it. I would need to see for myself first.”  
“But-“, Roman kicked his volume up a notch once again.  
“Shut up.”, Remus interrupted him, “I promised you to not freak out, now you do the same thing.”  
Roman growled annoyed. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and huffed.  
“Fine.”, he grumbled.  
“Man, you really are blinded by dick, huh?”, Remus snarled.  
“It’s “love”, you nasty.”, Roman corrected.  
“Ew.”, Remus uttered repulsed.  
“Other than that.”, Roman tried changing the subject, somewhat, “Aside form that messy conflict, Antonio is actually a great person.”  
“Lemme guess, you’re gonna gush about him for the next 20 minutes?”, Remus raised an eyebrow at his brother.  
“Of course I will.”, Roman smiled smugly, “You should know me by now.”  
“Well, don’t get mad if I drift off into a different world while you’re babbling.”, Remus shrugged.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm still writing, don't worry, here's a new chapter after [insert time I needed to write this lmao]
> 
> Trigger warnings: minor/vague (like. really really vague) mentions of past abuse and past s*icide attempt

“We’re home!”, Patton announced as he opened the door, “We brought a visitor!”  
Catherine, who sat on the sofa with Fluffball and had watched tv, turned her head.  
“Hey kiddos!”, she sung, “Did you have fun?”  
“Yup!”, Patton cheered while taking his shoes off, “I learned so much cool stuff today as well!”  
“I happy to hear that!”, Catherine replied while getting up from the sofa. She made her way to the group of teens, to see who they brought along. Fluffball, as excited as ever, followed the adult.  
“Hello, sweetheart.”, the mother smiled at the non-binary teen, holding out a hand, “I’m Catherine, Patton’s mother. But you can call me Cat.”  
“Cass.”, the youngest replied, shaking Cat’s hand, “I’m Logan’s younger sibling.”  
“Ah, yes, Logan mentioned you before.”, Catherine broke the handshake, “I would have said hello before, but I was really busy in the back with inventory when you guys first met, heh.”  
“It’s alright.”, Cass shrugged.  
“You seem like a lovely kid though.”, Cat nodded.  
“Thanks.”, Cass scratched their beanie-covered head, blushing a little.  
“Can we hog the kitchen for a while?”, Patton asked his mom, “We wanna bake some cookies!”  
“Of course!”, Catherine picked up Fluffball, fully knowing the dog would run after the teens once they went into the kitchen, “I’ll take care of this ball of energy while you’re having fun.”  
“Thanks mom!”  
The group of teens wandered into the kitchen after taking off their shoes. Logan instantly went for his apron, which hung right next to the doorframe with Mathews cooking apron, which had a dad joke printed on it, and Catherine’s work-aprons, which had her label embroidered on them.  
“Sick lookin’ apron you got there, heh.”, Cass complimented as Logan put the apron around his neck.  
“Thank you.”, he smiled at them while tying a knot on the back, securing the apron to his body, “Patton got it for me.”  
“You can borrow one of my moms aprons if you want.”, Patton offered the younger teen, “She always has a few spare here and at her bakery.”  
“Nah, I’m good.”, Cass politely denied the offer, “I don’t mind getting a little flour on my hoodie. But thanks nonetheless.”  
“Alrighty!”, Patton beamed, “So, what kind of cookies do we want to bake? Chocolate chip? Sugar cookies with royal sugar icing?”  
“Whatever is easier.”, both Cass and Logan said simultaneously.  
“Ha, jinxed!”, Cass pointed at her brother, chuckling.  
“What does that mean?”, Logan knitted his brows together.  
“Shh!”, Cass hushed the taller teen, “You’re not allowed to talk until I say your name! Dad always does that to me, so now it’s my turn!”  
Logan, deciding to play along, still shot a confusing glance at his younger sibling.  
“You... don’t know what jinxed is?”, Cass wondered.  
Logan silently shook his head.  
“Oh...”, the thirteen year old scratched their neck, “Well, uh... this is awkward...”  
Logan noticed Cass’s discomfort. He needed to do something about it, even if it meant to break the rules of the game he didn’t understand.  
“Feel free to explain it to me, so that I can play along properly the next time it comes up.”, Logan spoke up.  
“S-sure.”, Cass dropped their arm, “It’s, like, when two people say the same thing at the same time, the one that yells “jinxed” first jokingly curses the other to remain quiet until their name is said. If the other person breaks the silence beforehand, they owe the first person a soda.”  
“I see.”, Logan nodded understandingly, “I assume I lost then? As I was speaking before my name was called.”  
“It’s cool.”, the younger teen waved it off, “You didn’t know. I was just trying to do, like, fun family things I guess.”

_You’re even an outcast in the family that likes you, you freak._

Now the intrusive thoughts became insulting, which worried Logan highly.  
“My apologies.”, Logan mumbled, playing with his fingers to distract himself. He avoided making eye contact with either Cass or Patton.  
Instead, Cass shot a worried glance at her brothers boyfriend.  
“I got this.”, he mouthed, as he made his way to the taller teen.  
“Hey, Lo.”, Patton grabbed Logan’s hands, stopping him from fidgeting more, “It’s okay.”  
“No, I-“, Logan lightly pulled his hands out of his partners, “I need a moment.” He took off his apron and put it on the kitchen table.  
He then left the kitchen and went upstairs, ignoring Catherine’s worried look she shot him from the sofa.  
He made his way to his room. As he closed the door behind him, he leaned against it and slid down. His hands were frantically running thorough his hair, ruining the gelled back look he usually sported.  
“For crying out loud...”, he huffed, letting his head rest on his knees, and the hands on top of his neck.  
He remained this like this for a few moments, before the ringing of his phone made him perk up rapidly. After comprehending where the noise suddenly made its appearance from, he stood up and retrieved his phone from his pocket and checked the caller ID.  
“Roman?”, he thought out loud as he picked up, “Hello?”  
“ _Lolo!_ ”, a loud, booming voice came from the other side, which wasn’t Roman’s, “ _I miss you so much, please get over here!_ ”  
“Remus, I already told you there is no need for me to stay at the hospital.”, Logan instantly recognized the more chaotic twin, Remus must have gotten ahold of his twins phone.  
“ _Pleaseeeeeee._ ”, Remus begged, _“I’m dying of boredom!_ ”  
“You can’t die from boredom alone.”, Logan corrected.  
“S _top that, Walking Dictionary, I know I can’t. But that doesn’t matter, how are ya doin’? Were you and DadPat on your date yet?_ ”  
“We were, yes.”, Logan confirmed, “We’ve met my sibling Cass, they’re currently visiting.”  
“ _Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to your local trash man, heh._ ”  
“Well, actually, I...”, Logan contemplated whether or not to tell Remus, but eventually he gave in with a sigh, “I’m currently locked away in my room. By myself.”  
“ _Why, what happened?_ ”  
“You’re... familiar with intrusive thoughts, correct?”, Logan asked, even though he knew the answer.  
“ _Duh, I’m, like, the master of that shit._ ”  
“What do you do if the thoughts are more or less self deprecating?”  
“ _Anything but repress._ ”  
“That... doesn't help.”  
“ _Talk to me, what’s going through your head?_ ”  
“I don’t think talking will help, really. I already talked to Patton about it.”  
“ _Just pour your heart out and let me dissect it, man. And don’t you dare take that literally_.”  
Logan took a deep breath.  
“My thoughts haven’t been treating me kindly lately. They’ve been telling me I’m undeserving of everything positive I have gotten lately. And today, they started to become insulting as well.”  
“ _Aw fuck, yeah. That sucks. Whaddya mean by not deserving?_ ”  
“It just feels like everything that is currently happening to me is something I shouldn’t be getting. A secure home, a romantic relationship, a bigger friend group, a family that actually accepts me and seemingly loves me for the way I am. I’ve lived my life the complete opposite for the most part. It just feels... wrong. That I don’t deserve any of that.”  
“ _Well, after all that shit that went down in your past, it was about time you got some good things, y’know?_ ”  
“You don’t understand. The “better option” had always been present, with Mark and his family, but Susan kept that away from me. So that must mean I don’t deserve any good things coming my way.”  
A sniffle escaped Logan’s nose. He tried to keep it together, but that’s exactly what Remus told him not to do.  
“ _Let it out._ ”  
“Let what out?”  
“ _I can hear the snot running down your nose, let it out._ ”  
“I’m fine.”, Logan lied.  
“ _I said to do anything but repress._ ”  
“...”, Logan contemplated quietly, not realizing that tears have been building up in his eyes.  
“Logan. Speak to me.”  
“I can’t deal with the fact that, even now, that my parents don’t- don’t own me anymore, they still have such an impact on how my subconscious perceives the good things that are happening to me.”  
Logan took a seat on his bed and took off his glasses. He placed them on the bedside table next to him and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger.  
“ _They’re not with you. You don’t need to swallow all that pride. You know that, right?_ ”  
“But-“  
“ _They fucking broke you, let’s be real. You’re allowed to show that. Otherwise, you’ll be bottling everything up until you explode, man._ ”  
Logan wasn’t used to Remus being rational for once. But he trusted the twins words, Remus knew what he was talking about after all.  
“Thank- Thank you.”, Logan stuttered. He had been on the brink of sobbing and letting everything out he had been bottling up since the court day. Even before that. Ever since he “was taught a lesson”.  
“ _We can still talk if you need to._ ”, Remus offered, “ _I still have some time left before Prince Buttwipe has to leave._ ”  
Logan wanted to talk, he really did. He knew he could trust Remus. But it would be unfair towards his sibling, who clearly wanted to spend time with their older brother.  
On the other hand, he couldn’t just come back down to the kitchen, on the brink of a breakdown.  
“I don’t- I don’t think it’s the right time-“  
“ _Intrusive thoughts don’t give a fuck about the time or situation you’re in, Teach. You’re just trying to avoid the problem._ ”  
Remus was right. Logan couldn’t repress his emotions forever.  
“I-“, he wanted to speak up again, but a hiccup interrupted him, “My- My apologies.”  
“ _It’s alright._ ”, Remus said calmly.  
Logan leaned his head on his free hand. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the first tears to run down his cheeks.  
The first sobs would follow soon after.  
Remus decided to remain quiet. He let Logan take as much time as he needed to let out his bottled up emotions.  
“Re-“, Logan tried speaking up again, but his hiccups were too violent to let him speak in full sentences, let alone words.  
“ _I’m still here, don’t worry._ ”  
Logan nodded at the reassurance. He had been unreasonably afraid that Remus might have hung up or put the phone aside.  
Without Logan  
noticing, a good chunk of time had passed. His sobs became less aggressive and his crying turned more silent. Some hiccups and sniffles would escape his nose and throat though.  
“ _You feeling any better?_ ”, came from the other side of the line.  
“A-“, a sniffle, “A little. I assume. I can’t tell.”  
“ _Better than nothing, heh._ ”, Remus chuckled, in an attempt to lift the general mood a little.  
A knock at Logan’s door interrupted the phone call.  
“Lo?”, came from the other side. Patton must have gotten worried.  
“Can I come in?”, Patton asked carefully, “I’m worried about you.”  
“ _What’s going on?_ ”, Remus must have vaguely heard Patton’s attempt to get in.  
“Patton noticed my absence.”, Logan filled him in.  
“ _Then let him in, you dingus_.”  
“But-“  
“ _No butts. As much as I like them.”_  
 _“Oh, you’re insufferable!”_ , Roman, who had been silently present on Remus’s end for the most part, teased his brother.  
“ _Hey, I just had to listen to your never ending ramble about Antonio, you don’t get to tell me that I’m insufferable! Hehe._ ”  
“Thank you.”, Logan uttered.  
“ _Huh?”_ , Remus exclaimed confused.  
“Thank you for helping me.”  
“ _Oh, that, yeah no biggie. I guess I called at the right time, huh?_ ”  
“You sure did.”  
“Logan?”, Patton tried knocking again, “Are you in there?”  
“Come in.”, Logan finally granted permission.  
“ _I guess that’s my cue to hang up now. See ya soon!_ ”  
“Good bye.”, with that, Logan hung up. As he put his phone down next to him, Patton opened the door. He had Cass behind him.  
“Oh no, Logan!”, Patton instantly noticed his partners puffy red eyes he had gotten from crying.  
“What happened?”, Patton asked while taking a seat next to Logan. Cass decided to wait outside the room for now, standing in front of the open door.  
“I just had a phone call with Remus.”, Logan explained between small sniffles, “I talked to him about the intrusive thoughts I’ve had lately and, well, he told me to “let it all out”.”  
“But why didn’t you say something much sooner?”, Patton placed a hand on Logan’s lap.  
“It’s... quite complicated, really.”, Logan grabbed his glasses from the bedside table and put them on, “I’m sorry for bringing the mood down. I know you wanted to spend some time with me to bond as siblings, Cass.”  
“Ah, well.”, Cass rubber their upper arm nervously, “It’s fine. You clearly have some baggage going on.”  
“I do wish to be a better brother.”, Logan let his gaze wander down to the floor, “I just... don’t know if I’m capable of doing that. I’m not even sure if you... want... me to anyways...”  
“Hell yeah I want you to!”, Cass exclaimed, “I finally have a sibling that can talk in coherent sentences, heh.”  
Cass was clearly joking in the second part of their statement. Even Patton let out a small chuckle.  
Cass decided to finally enter the room, stopping in front of their brother. Logan spotted the feet that came to a halt in front of him. He quickly glanced up, meeting Cass’s gaze.  
“Look, even though you’re a huge nerd, I think you’re cool.”, they tried to cheer him up, “Believe it or not, I’ve known about you for years now.”  
“You... did?”, Logan raised an eyebrow.  
“Yeah. Dad thought it was important, that there aren’t any heavy family secrets, so he was pretty open about having a son with another woman.”, Cass smiled, “And when he told us that you reached out to him, I was ecstatic! Even if it didn’t look that way when we met for the first time. I just needed some time to open up. You asking for my pronouns and telling me yours helped with the process.”, Cass scratched the back of their head, “I didn’t think you would catch onto that. I didn’t know what to expect from you actually, since dad didn’t even know.”  
The younger teen then noticed for how long they had been talking.  
“Ah, sorry for the ramble-“  
“No.”, Logan got up, placing a hand on his siblings shoulder, “Thank you for letting me know what you think of me. I’ll definitely make an effort to be a better brother to you and Tyler.”  
Cass’s ramble must have motivated Logan to try his best and leave all his previous doubts behind.  
“Neato!”, Cass grinned widely, “And don’t worry if you think you messed up somehow. I get it. You grew up without siblings your entire life after all.”  
“To be specific, I didn’t grow up with a proper family entirely.”, Logan dropped his arm, “When you said I could call Mark “dad”, it felt uncomfortably foreign. I never had a real dad, considering the way Austin treated me.”  
“Yeah, I remember what you said about him.”, Cass nodded, “It’s still up to you if you want to call dad “dad” or not. He’s happy you’re giving him a chance either way.”  
“By the way.”, Patton spoke up, “I know this isn’t really on topic, but we haven’t started with the cookies yet, so... If you’re still up for it, Lo?”  
Logan turned his head and gave Patton a small genuine smile.  
“Of course.”, he affirmed, “Have you decided on what type you want to make yet?”  
“Cass is a huge fan of chocolate.”, Patton pointed out, “Plus, with what went down just now, some good old fashioned chocolate chip cookies should lift the spirits in no time!”  
“Very well.”, Logan agreed, “Let’s make some chocolate chip cookies then.”

The dough was done and baked relatively quickly. Chocolate chip cookies weren’t that complicated to make after all. All they had to do was cool off.  
The small group of teens sat at the kitchen table, having a chat.  
“Hey, uhm...”, Cass spoke up, “I’ve been wondering.”  
“Yes, Cass?”, Logan gave his sibling a small warm smile.  
“How do you deal with bullying?”, Cass asked quietly, “You know, because you’re gay and all...”  
They didn’t mean to be this direct, but they also didn’t know how to properly address the topic at hand.  
“Are you being bullied?”, Patton wondered with an apologetic look.  
“Y-yeah...”, Cass admitted, “Some of my classmates still use the wrong pronouns and my deadname. So I’ve been wondering if you have some tips for me or something.”  
“Ah, well.”, Logan exhaled, “Luckily, we’re not getting bullied to that extend. Just the rude comment here and there.”  
“Oh, that really is lucky.”, Cass leaned their head on their hand, “I guess you can’t help then...”  
“A friend of ours had the same problem.”, Patton pointed out, “They ignored it for the most part. But I don’t think that’ll help.”  
“Not really, I’ve tried that.”, Cass shook their head, “They keep teasing me. It’s- ugh!”, they groaned annoyed, “It’s not even that hard to understand!”  
“It’s not.”, Logan agreed, “But people like those tend to be ignorant by choice.”  
“So there isn’t anything I could do, huh?”, Cass said defeated.  
“You could talk to authorities. Teachers, parents.”, Logan suggested.  
“I already talked to the teachers.”, Cass filled in, “But they can’t do much aside from talking to my bullies. And... I... didn’t tell... my parents...”  
Cass sunk in their posture. They didn’t want to admit that they haven’t talked to their parents, even if they just admitted it.  
“You haven’t talked to Mark and Viv yet?”, the older teen exclaimed in slight disbelief.  
“I don’t want them to worry about me too much.”, the younger teen defended themselves.  
“You should really talk to them.”, Patton chimed in, “I’m sure they can help you.”  
“Hmmm.”, Cass let out an uneasy hum, “I don’t know... What did that friend of yours do?”  
“Uh...”, Patton and Logan uttered simultaneously, giving each other a questioning look.  
How were they supposed to tell Cass that their friend unintentionally had gotten a bodyguard in form of a chaotic twin without a filter?  
“It’s... quite a weird story.”, Patton chuckled uncomfortably, “I don’t think that would be of any help for you.”  
“... Is murder somehow involved or...?”, Cass wondered confused.  
“Huh?!”, Patton exclaimed in shock, “No! What made you think that?”  
“I dunno, it would make for a nice true crime story, heh.”, Cass chuckled.  
Logan chuckled a little as well.  
Patton on the other hand was still slightly petrified.  
“Is there a chance I could talk to that friend of yours?”, Cass then asked, with hope and uncertainty in their eyes, “Maybe they can help.”  
“I’ll send a text.”, Logan retrieved his phone from his pocket, “Am I allowed to inform them about your identity?”  
“Of course.”, Cass nodded.

Logan: Janus?  
SnakeDad: Good evening, Logan. What’s the matter?  
Logan: Ah, that was quick.  
SnakeDad: I’ve had my phone in my hands already.  
Logan: I see.  
Logan: Very well. I have a favor to ask.  
SnakeDad: What is it?  
Logan: My sibling Cass could need some help.  
SnakeDad: Right, your father has two more kids, I remember.  
SnakeDad: Cass was the 13 year old, correct?  
Logan: Yes. They have trouble in school because their schoolmates keep misgendering and bullying them.  
Logan: Maybe you could be of help.  
SnakeDad: Ah, I see. They’re non-binary I assume?  
SnakeDad: I figured from the pronouns you’ve been using.  
Logan: Yes.  
SnakeDad: You can hand them my number, so that they can text me privately.  
Logan: Good idea, thank you so much.  
SnakeDad: Of course, no problem.  
Logan: Am I allowed to tell them about your identity?  
SnakeDad: Sure, thank you for asking.  
Logan: Of course.

“Janus offered me to hand you his number.”, Logan informed his sibling, “You can text him privately.”  
“Oh, neat.”, Cass smiled, getting their phone as well.  
Logan quickly copied Janus’s number and sent it to Cass’s phone. They instantly saved the number.  
“I’ll text him lather though.”, Cass informed ad they placed the phone down on the table, “How are the cookies?”  
“Oh, right!”, Patton jumped up, “They should be cool enough by now.”  
He shuffled his way away from the table and jogged towards the tray, that had been placed on the kitchen counter next to the oven. He carefully hovered a hand above the cookies, checking if they still emitted heat. When he didn’t notice any warmth, he carefully grabbed one.  
“Perfectly fine!”, he gave the half siblings an okay-sign, “I’ll put them on a plate real quick.”  
Logan watched his partner  
in admiration, as he cheerfully hummed a happy tune, while getting a plate from the cupboard above him. The nerdy teen sighed contently.  
He didn’t understand what good fortune came over him, that he became friends with Patton in the first place. And to even call him his boyfriend was something he sometimes couldn’t comprehend. Which made him question if the intrusive thoughts were baseless.  
Well, of course they were. Logan knew that.  
Intrusive thoughts tend to be baseless and illogical. He didn’t want to know what Remus had been going through with his thoughts.  
Logan remembered the situation he had been not even an hour ago. Crying his eyes out while Remus comforted him from the mental hospital through the phone.  
On hindsight, Logan questioned if that really had been necessary.  
He was extremely lucky, he thought, despite him not believing in luck.  
But the thoughts were plaguing him so badly, that he started to doubt himself, clearly.  
The thoughts will definitely return, he knew that. He expected that even. But maybe he could handle them better when that time rolled around. Crying seemed to have helped a lot. Remus was right, repressing wasn’t the way to go.

_You don’t deserve any of that._

And there it was.  
Logan closed his eyes internally shook his head.  
There was no truth behind that statement, he told himself, it’s going to be okay.  
“Here we go!”, Patton announced cheerfully as he placed the plate of cookies down in the middle of the table, “While I’m still standing, do you guys want me to grab anything to drink?”  
“A tea would be satisfactory.”, Logan smiled at his boyfriend.  
“Yeah, I’ll take the same.”, Cass chimed in.  
“Three tea’s, coming right up!”, Patton decided to join the spontaneous tea party.  
He snatched the electric kettle from its station, filled it with water, put it back and turned it on.  
“Do you need any help?”, Logan wondered.  
“I’m good!”, Patton sung while getting the mugs from the same cupboard he got the plate from, “But thanks anyways!”  
“He’s always that caring, isn’t he?”, Cass shot their brother a teasing glare.  
“He is, yes.”, Logan confirmed with a nod, “Our friend group has named him “the group dad”, which I would say seems accurate.”  
“Adorable.”, Cass grinned before dropping it with a sad sigh, “I wish I could have a cool friend group like that.”  
“To be fair, Patton and I were by ourselves for the most part of our lives.”, Logan explained, “Our friend group expanded very recently without us planning to do so.”  
“Ah, good to know I guess.”, Cass nodded understandingly.  
“What kind of tea would you guys like?”, Patton held up a few boxes of different teas, “We have a whole lot, so we’ll probably have whatever you want.”  
“Black tea, please.”, Logan told the smaller teen.  
“Something fruity.”, Cass shrugged.  
“On it!”, Patton started sorting the bags in the different animal themed mugs. Black tea for Logan, a blend of green tea, mint and strawberry for Cass, and a simple peppermint tea for himself. After he filled each mug with hot water, he grabbed a small tray and placed the mug on top.  
While humming a simple tune, Patton made his way to the table and placed the tray next to the cookies.  
“All set!”, he beamed.  
As he was about to sit down, the doorbell rang.  
“Oh!”, escaped the blond teens mouth, “I’ll get that real quick!”  
“Patton-“, Logan wanted to tell Patton to kick it down a notch and finally take a seat, but the latter was too quick. He had already left the kitchen to get the door.  
Cass chuckled into their sleeve.  
As Patton opened the door, he spotted a familiar face.  
“Good afternoon!”, I greeted, “I hope our home was easy to find. Please come in!”  
“Thank you!”, the guest thanked with a wide smile, “And yes it was!”  
“Aye, dad is here.”, Cass instantly recognized her fathers voice, “I’m surprised he didn’t get lost.”  
“Is he that bad with directions?”, Logan questioned.  
“Terrible.”, Cass giggled, “We got lost twice when we made our way to the bakery the first time we met. Even thought we have GPS.”  
“You can take a seat in the living room for now.”, the pair of siblings heard Patton say, “Would you like some coffee?”  
“Ah, no thank you, I had some before I got here, but thanks.”, they then heard Mark say.  
Patton quickly rushed back into the kitchen.  
“I assume you want to tell us that we should relocate to the living room?”, Logan questioned with a small smile, fully knowing that Patton was about to suggest that.  
“It’s as if you read my mind, heh.”, Patton grinned, “I’ll grab the cookies.”  
Cass and Logan got up from their seats, each grabbing their mugs. However, before Patton was able to grab the plate, Logan was faster to do so.  
“Hey! Hehe.”, the blond boy laughed, “I said I would take them.”  
“It’s fine.”, Logan held up the plate to where Patton had trouble reaching it. Sometimes, being at such a tall height had its benefits.  
“You meanie!”, Patton jokingly scolded, all giggly.  
“You already did so much, let me do some work, okay?”, Logan then gave his boyfriend a quick kiss on the top of his head as he left the kitchen, his tea in one hand and the plate of cookies in the other.  
As he went to the living room, closely followed by Patton, he spotted Mark and Catherine on the sofa, already engrossed in a lighthearted conversation.  
“Hey dad!”, Cass, who had been silently following Logan and Patton, greeted her father.  
Mark turned his head, giving the teens a wide smile.  
“Hi guys!”, he cheered, “Hope you had a fun afternoon together.  
“We did.”, Logan affirmed. He made it past the sofa. The cookies he’d been holding onto were carefully placed on the coffee table. He then took a seat on the armchair, leaving the room next to Mark for someone else.  
“Patton, Cass and I made cookies together.”, he informed Mark, “Feel free to take some.”  
“Oh, that’s exciting, thank you!”, Mark happily took a baked good. Catherine took the freedom to snatch one as well.  
In the meantime, Cass had taken a seat next to her father. Patton, once again, stood in front of Logan with a sheepish smile and pleading eyes.  
By now, the taller teen knew exactly what that meant. Logan opened his arms, carefully, to not spill any tea, and gave Patton the space to sit down on his lap.  
Once Patton was done, Logan leaned back, with his free arm wrapped around Patton’s waist. Which caused the smaller teen to automatically lean back as well.  
“And they’re not coal for once.”, Cass said as her dad took a bite out of a cookie.  
“You made a bad batch of muffins once.”, Mark pointed out, mouth half full.  
“And never tried ever since.”, Cass added.  
Logan watched carefully as the father-child duo playfully teased each other.

_You’ll never have that._   
_You wouldn’t even be able to tell fun banter apart from real criticism._

Logan sighed quietly. Which Patton noticed, as he felt Logan’s breath scraping by his ear. He turned his head, giving the black haired boy a questioning look.  
Logan mouthed a “later” back. With a nod, Patton put his attention back to the guests.  
Eventually the fun banter turned back to a proper conversation, more or less. Catherine had been secretly interrogating Mark, just to make sure he really was the kind person Logan painted him to be. The way he treated Cass though, and the way they reacted back, was a lot of proof already, that Mark had been a good person.  
Logan was the first one to finish his tea. Mainly because he didn’t talk much. Not because he didn’t want to, he just felt like being a listener instead of a talker. He didn’t have much to say anyways.  
“Patton, could you let me get up, please?”, he asked his boyfriend, “I would like to bring my cup to the kitchen.”  
“Oh, I can do that for you!”, Patton offered.  
“Patton, love, calm down.”, Logan spoke in a soft tone, “Let me handle that.”  
“Hmmm.”, Patton pouted a little, “Okay.”, but eventually gave in and got up, setting Logan free. The latter made it back to the kitchen.  
He made his way to the sink, dunking the used tea bag in the trash can below the sink. He then turned the faucet on, waiting for the water to turn warm.  
“Hey.”, a male voice popped up behind him, “Do you, by any chance, have a moment?”  
It was Mark. He seemed to have a wanted a moment alone with Logan.  
“Of course.”, Logan said while checking for the waters temperature with the back his hand.  
“Okay, good, good.”, Mark nodded, which Logan didn’t see obviously. The father made a few more steps into the kitchen, leaving some space between him and the teen.  
“So... I’m not quite sure how to really properly address this, so I’ll just jump right into it.”, Mark informed, subconsciously warning Logan, that the following topic may be an uncomfortable one, “I’ve been talking to your mother.”  
Logan jolted. The hand under the water balled into a fist, while the other hand tightened its grip around the handle of the faucet. He decided, that the running water had been too distracting, so he turned it off. The mug could wait.  
“Please... don’t address her that way.”, Logan leaned onto the edge of the sink, “That woman is not my mother.”  
“I’m sorry.”, Mark instantly apologized, “But, well, I did talk to Susan though.”  
“...”, Logan remained quiet.  
“I confronted her about the things she did to you, and believe me, if I had known about that much sooner, I would have battled for custody.”, the father explained, “And I know I won’t be able to make it up now.”  
“It’s not your fault.”, Logan uttered, “You didn’t know. But why are you bringing this up now?”  
“I’ve been thinking. And I’ve also been talking to Viv about this. I know you’re emancipated, and you’re turning 18 next year, but, if you want, we would sort of adopt you back, so that you’re officially detached from Austin at least.”  
Logan, who had been avoiding eye contact the entire time, turned his head, facing Mark.  
“You... what?”, he didn’t quite believe Marks words.  
“We, well, more specifically I, would adopt you.”, Mark repeated the core statement again, “I’m not quite sure, if that would mess with your emancipation in any way, but I think Susan would still have to pay alimony to me, which will definitely go to you. I don’t want to keep money that is meant for you.”  
“Y-you would-“, Logan stuttered, “Really?”  
“Yeah.”, Mark gave a nod, “You won’t even have to move in with us or anything, you seem to enjoy living here. I just want you to feel more included and secure in our family. Of course, if you want that is. I don’t want to force you.”  
“I-“, Marks suggestion painted Logan utterly speechless. A wave of all kinds of emotions flooded over him. He needed a moment to comprehend everything, and Mark noticed that.  
“You don’t have to decide right away.”, he told his son, “You can take your time if you need to.”  
“No- I-“, Logan shook his head in an attempt to clear is cluttered mind, “I would- I would like that. Please.”  
“Really?”, Mark wanted to make sure that he heard correctly, “You can still think about it for a while-“  
“No, I’m certain.”, Logan interrupted Mark.  
“Huh.”, Mark exhaled relieved, “I- I’m glad, I really am. I didn’t think you would accept right away.”  
What happened next was unexpected. Even to Logan.  
He hugged Mark. Unprovoked.  
“Hey, it’s okay.”, Mark hugged back, “It’s okay...”

Nighttime rolled around. Mark and Cass had gone home a while ago.  
Catherine got a good impression of Mark. She was glad Logan finally had a proper parent figure he could look up to.  
Eventually, Mathew came home from work and dinner was served.  
“So, how was your date, boys?”, Mathew asked curiously.  
“Perfect!”, Patton giggled excitedly.  
“It truly was worth the wait.”, Logan supported Patton’s statement.  
“I’m happy to hear that!”, Mathew cheered, “What else happened today?”  
“Logan’s family paid us a visit.”, Catherine filled in with a happy tune.  
“What-?!”, Mathew exclaimed shocked. He thought of the wrong family, clearly.  
“Mark and Cass.”, Logan quickly added, “Not... the other ones.”  
“Oh, phew!”, the father sighed with relief, “I probably should have figured by how cheery Cat sounded, heh.”  
“Yeah, hehe.”, Patton chuckled, “We actually met Cass in the museum and offered to hang out with them. We baked cookies!”  
“Sadly, they’re all gone.”, Catherine pretended to be sad. Mostly to tease her husband.  
“That just proves that they were delicious.”, Mathew indirectly complimented.  
“Later on, Mark came along.”, Logan continued the story, “And, well, I actually have a little announcement.”  
“You do?!”, Patton asked with wide eyes, hopping on his chair excitedly.  
“I hope it’s good news.”, Catherine smiled.  
“It is.”, Logan nodded, “Mark... offered to adopt me.”  
“My, that’s amazing!”, Catherine clapped.  
“Wait, does that mean you’re moving in with them?”, Patton wondered, slightly worried.  
“No.”, Logan shook his head, “Mark told me that I can stay here. If I’m allowed to.”  
“Of course!”, Mathew confirmed, “So, what does that mean then?”  
“We don’t fully know yet.”, Logan pondered, “Mark told me that he wanted me to feel more included in his family, and detach myself from Austin and his name.”  
“Logan Berry, huh?”, Mathew instantly made the connection.  
“That sounds so cute!”, Patton swooned.  
“I just hope it won’t cause any conflict with my emancipation.”, Logan contemplated, “If so... I wouldn’t mind, actually.”  
“What?”, Catherine tilted her head confused, “But you fought so hard for it.”  
“Because at that time, that was the only option for me.”, the black haired teen defended, “But we’re possibly going to discuss things further with a lawyer. I may consult Mr Terrance again.”

Logan still had a more or less big matter to take care of.  
Later that night, he knocked at Patton’s door.  
“Come in!”, came from the other side.  
Logan quickly entered the room, closing the door behind him.  
Patton, sporting his usual cat onesie, sat on his bed, scrolling through his phone.  
“Heya!”, he smiled at Logan.  
“What have you been up to?”, Logan asked softly while taking a seat next to the smaller teen. He finally was comfortable enough to sit on the bed without having to ask for permission.  
“Oh, nothing really.”, Patton shrugged, “Just mindlessly scrolling through some blogs.”  
“Do you have a minute?”, Logan asked. He suddenly sounded too serious for the light hearted mood that filled the room prior to the question. It worried Patton.  
“Is something wrong?”, he grew more nervous.  
“I wanted to let you know, that you can always talk to me, right?”, Logan reminded the blond boy, “You allow me to talk to you as well. So?”  
It took Patton a moment to think about what Logan meant. Until it hit him.  
“Is this about the thing that happened at the museum earlier?”, he asked sheepishly, trying to hide his face behind his phone.  
“Yes.”, Logan gave a nod, “You said you were being selfish.”  
“Yeeeeaaah....”, Patton groaned. He sighed, then locked his phone and placed that in his lap.  
“But that’s not a bad thing, is it?”, Logan questioned.  
“I just... don’t like being selfish.”, Patton admitted, “I’ve always helped others and telling your sibling to wait until our date was over felt pretty mean...”  
“It wasn’t.”, Logan debunked instantly, “Cass was fine with spending time afterwards. I just don’t want you to overwork. You clearly tried to “make up” for that by spoiling us with everything possible.”  
“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice that, heh.”, Patton nervously chuckled as he started to play with his fingers, “I never thought I was the best I could be before my... attempt. I always felt like I was too selfish. And after my stay at the hospital, I figured I needed to be more giving and better myself.”  
“Patton, you don’t have to be selfless all the time.”, Logan carefully grabbed Patton’s hands, giving them a loving squeeze, “You were never too selfish. You always made an effort to make others smile and be helpful as much as you could.”  
“I don’t think so...”, Patton mumbled, sinking his head to avoid eye contact with the other.  
“Patton, please look up again.”, Logan plead softly.  
Patton hesitated, but obliged.  
“You’re not selfish.”, Logan affirmed, “You’re the least selfish person I know. But you need to step back every now and again though and think about yourself.”  
“Hmmmm....”, Patton didn’t like that.  
“Pat, love.”, Logan whispered.  
He also got comfortable enough to use pet names. They were limited to the same ones for the most part, but they got Patton weak nonetheless.  
“I... can try.”, he said, unsure of himself, “But I can’t make promises. I still don’t feel good about that whole ordeal.”  
“Remember what you said about my intrusive thoughts?”, Logan questioned rhetorically, “You told me that I needed to remind myself, that they hold no real substance. And that you would remind me of that as well.”  
“Mhm!”, Patton nodded.  
“So, I will so the same thing for you. Remind you to do some self care and that being selfish sometimes is okay that is.”  
“Well, then I already have a little thing I’d like to do for my self care.”, Patton grinned mischievously.  
“Oh?”, Logan raised an eyebrow, “That is?”  
Patton slipped his hands out of Logan’s and opened his arms.  
“Cuddle!”, he demanded cutely.  
Logan held back a small laugh, but complied.


End file.
